USING FLIPGRID TO IMPROVE MEMORY ABILITY IN LEARNING FOREIGN LANGUAGES

The research showed that online media was expected to provide a more straightforward understanding to students in learning Mandarin, one of which was FlipGrid online learning media. Learning Mandarin was quite challenging if it was only done by using textbooks. This could be shown by the lack of students’ memory of the vocabulary they had just learned. The data were analyzed with a quantitative approach involving 110 students aged 13 to 14. The data was collected of students’ vocabulary study after two months of using three test questions: filling in the blanks, guessing the meaning, and completing sentences. Thus, it can be concluded that understanding the vocabulary learned on the FlipGrid platform media can also be an additional vocabulary for students in developing speaking skills. The results reveal that the teacher’s participation in monitoring the completion of students’ assignments also plays a vital role in developing students’ speaking skills, which means that the frequency of using FlipGrid directly impacts students’ memory skills. However, when faced with critical thinking test questions, students themselves must be able to think out of the box and not only based on what they have learned from FlipGrid online. That means the research implies a need for a more innovative instructional design for language learning to improve better students’ memorization to learn Mandarin.


INTRODUCTION
Learning Mandarin in the memorizing phrases section plays an important role. One of the reasons is that both vocabulary and pronunciation are quite difficult to master. Meanwhile, nowadays, education is more connected to the internet, and most of the activities in education depend on internet usage (Ying, Yulius, & Juniarto, 2021). As time goes by, the use of online Mandarin learning platforms has also emerged, which can maximize the learning of Mandarin (Jureynolds & Ying, 2020). In Mandarin learning, various learning applications can be used to support interactive learning, such as quizizz, nearpod, edpuzzle, etc.
The research uses FlipGrid as an online learning platform for student learning, where learning with the FlipGrid online app allows students to develop their voices and learn how to present themselves online.
Repeated experiences using FlipGrid increase their feelings of social connectedness and improve academic performance. Especially the current conditions where the use of online media in learning since the pandemic makes people inevitably have to start looking for ways to use other methods to learn and apply new educational platforms along with the times. Moreover, starting from students' boredom when facing learning that is quite difficult to master, the use of online media is a challenge for learning in the future. Therefore, the use of FlipGrid as an online media platform is essential.
For a teacher, the usage of FlipGrid is various. It has provided ways for teachers to set up activities to encourage students to communicate with each other (Petersen, Townsend, & Onaka, 2020). The FlipGrid video platform provides students with more learning avenues and increases opportunities to receive the constructive feedback necessary for skill acquisition (Taylor & Hinchman, 2020). For other language learning functions, FlipGrid should be utilized as a tool to monitor English language learners' second language development rather than an independent scaffold for language acquisition (Difilippantonio-Pen, 2020).
For students, FlipGrid is easy and pleasing to use; it helps them get to know their peers in an efficient manner and can engage in reflective thinking (Lowenthal & Moore, 2020). Then, FlipGrid allows students to practice both of these skills in a safe and low-stress learning platform (Mango, 2021). Besides, students enjoy using FlipGrid to interact with their classmates and especially enjoy learning more about their peers (Edwards & Lane, 2021). Based on Shin and Yunus (2021), elementary school students have a high positive response in using FlipGrid to learn English speaking skills. This is also evident in the use of FlipGrid as an online learning platform for junior high school students.
Mastery of speaking skills is quite a challenge for language learning, especially the foreign language itself. Previously, Wang et al. (2018) have conducted research on language learning strategies for local and foreign children. It finds that learning together effectively has a considerable impact on language development by foreign speakers.
The research is based on FlipGrid apps, and the assessment is carried out through Gform, which aims to conclude the results of achieving student understanding. The purpose of online learning preclass assessment activities is to quickly test student learning on learning materials which are diagnostic assessments (Haiyan et al., 2020). Along with this opinion, FlipGrid, as an interactive learning platform, can also provide students with a more concise understanding. Where online game-based platforms can help pronounce Chinese characters correctly by providing pronunciation sounds in the application for each Chinese character so that it can distinguish each intonation of Chinese characters (Jureynolds, Theresia, & Ying, 2021).
According to the previous research, it can be said that after two months of learning using the FlipGrid application, there is a reasonably continuous effect between student learning outcomes and their activeness in using this application.
The research examines the benefits of using FlipGrid for learning Mandarin phrases through the reading section and explain using online learning media based on apps and web portals on the level of student understanding. It is hoped that through the research, more concrete ways of learning Mandarin can be concluded, especially in memorizing Mandarin phrases.

METHODS
The research applies a quantitative research method, where the frequency of assignment submissions by 110 students and the final results of student exams become the object of the research. After observing the research object, the conclusions are be made about the different exam scores of using the FlipGrid application in different frequencies.
Each recording that participants have sent is stored in the FlipGrid group menu, and teachers can check student assignments one by one, which can be seen in Figures 1 (see Appendix) and 2, and provide feedback in the comments column. The comment field can also be set to 'private' or 'public' mode. The materials can be in the form of videos or sentences that have been converted into sound so that students can directly hear Chinese pronunciations. In addition, students can also use the 'line focus' feature, which allows them to study per sentence focused on reading. This feedback is quite simple and used by many people. Furthermore, teachers with poor feedback could use FlipGrid as an adequate substitute for face-to-face speaking activities (Hammett, 2020).
As seen in Figure 3 (see Appendix), students can set the secret menu on FlipGrid, so nobody can get in to see the feedback. For teachers, it is an excellent way to improve student learning (Green, Besser, & Donovan, 2021). Learning with FlipGrid can also help some students in speaking activities because it also can provide reading material (Figure 4 -see Appendix) and especially for students who are shy or nervous about speaking (Petersen, Townsend, & Onaka, 2020;Shin & Yunus, 2021;Tuyet & Khang, 2020).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
FlipGrid's interface design is quite simple and easy to use. Students can use websites or applications that can be downloaded, user-friendly, and beneficial for doing the assigned tasks. E-learning platforms are closely related to social and economic developments and the development of information technology. On the other hand, cultural background and thinking habits also significantly influence the way and content of learning (Zhao, 2011). By using FlipGrid, the benefits can be directly felt by the students. Moreover, as students aged 13-14 years who are still teenagers, the habit of using new things increasingly encourages them to use this platform.
The research is based on the results of student exams, where they use FlipGrid with teaching materials in the form of material of Meiri yiju, a Chinese proverb (chapters 41-58), with explanations and examples of sentences. The learning examples can be seen in Table 1. The data used are the results of the examinations of three students of the A+ class and 107 students of the A class, where the student exam questions can be seen in Table 1.
The use of words in classes A+ and A is only found in the arrangement of the differences in the terms given, where the material studied is the same. Students of class A+, in addition to learning together with class A, but in sessions once a week, there are additional Mandarin lessons with other Mandarin teachers. So it tends to form a different pattern of understanding.
Based on the types of exam questions given to students (Table 1), it appears that the test is divided into three types, where the first type is filling in the continuation of the word in question (questions 1-3), then reading the sentences, guess the word in (question number 4) and fill in the sentences using the right words (question number 5). These three types of questions are from several student learning materials so that students can answer the questions correctly if they have done reading assignments.
Based on the research data, students' exams can find that students' understanding of the word's meaning is good enough; the results of further research can be seen in Table 2. According to the results of the exam, it is found that students in the questions on sentence interpretation and entering sentences still have some errors, with a correct ratio: of 94,4% -95,3%. According to the five questions, all of them are multiple-choice questions, and it can be concluded that students while working on the questions, can interpret the instructions for each question differently and respond to word choices in different ways depending in part on their reluctance or willingness to guess on the exam question.
Based on the questions of class A students in sections 4 and 5, it can be concluded that most of the students answer correctly, but some still answer incorrectly. Questions 4 and 5 are about guessing the meaning and fulfilling the sentence.
Based on Figure 5, which is a question of guessing the word, the student guesses the word based on the sentence given, the sentence is: 珍惜现在的时 间，因为时间不等人(zhēnxī xiànzài de shíjiān, yīn wéi shíjiān bù děng rén) . While the answer choices that given are: A. 及时当勉励，岁月不待人 (jíshí dāng miǎnlì, suìyuè bù dàirén); B. 千里送鹅毛，礼 轻情义重 (qiānlǐ sòng émáo, lǐ qīng qíngyì zhòng); C. 一味的给予，不是最好的帮助方式 (yīwèi de jǐyǔ, bùshì zuì hǎo de bāngzhù fāngshì); D. 酒逢知 己千杯少，话不投机半句多 (jiǔ féng zhījǐ qiān bēi shǎo, huà bù tóujī bàn jù duō). The correct answer is A. 及时当勉励，岁月不 待人 (jíshí dāng miǎnlì, suìyuè bù dàirén), but based on the answers given, it is found that one student answered B. 千里送鹅毛，礼 轻情义重 (qiānlǐ sòng émáo, lǐ qīng qíngyì zhòng). Word recognition in reading assignments is also highly correlated with word and sentence meaning tasks (semantic processing skills), where word recognition skills are closely related to word meaning processing. So that if look at the comparison between the Mandarin letters in answers A and B, it can be found that the use of letters in answer B is easier to understand because of the simple vocabulary (言笃信，行笃敬). This can also be the basis for why the student chooses answer B.
Understanding complex languages tend to make students choose ways to guess the answers to the questions given. However, not all questions can be solved by guessing; for example, question 5 ( Figure  6). Students are asked to enter the word in question based on the sentences presented. The students themselves must be able to understand the meaning of the sentences; then, they can answer the question correctly.

A Class student questions
Question Type Correct answer Based on the results of the exam given, there are only a few students who answer correctly in the exam. After checking their assignment data, it is found that students who make mistakes are active in collecting FlipGrid assignments, but the others are not very active. This also indicates that students need to understand and practice it, not necessarily depending on the online learning materials provided. Rebello (2012) has ever said that in a study of student performance and test accuracy, there is a tendency for students to either overestimate their test performance or underestimate their performance, namely the class average. So it can be concluded that students who tend not to get grades even though they are active in collecting assignments can also be due to the influence of their self.
The research takes eight students' answers as a sample, where it can be concluded that the students who are wrong on the two questions are students who rarely collected assignments on the FlipGrid platform. However, for students who collect continuously, it is also found that they only collect assignments. It can be known that they do not understand the meaning of the material that has been studied; here is the percentage of the eight students' FlipGrid assignments.  Table 3 shows that student C never collects Flip Grid assignments, while other students are actively collecting assignments, and the scores obtained are quite high. It can be seen that learning materials using FlipGrid have quite a significant influence on the level of students' memory of the material that has been taught, but on the other hand, the students themselves are also obliged to actively participate in the learning that has been given. In addition, problems in learning Mandarin also include time constraints, which in this case include the length of study and frequency (Ying et al., 2017). Other constraints include challenges in the form of internet, connectivity, teacher-student interaction, and teacher efficiency (Karjo et al., 2021). Like other language skills, speaking also has a direct relationship with the ability to understand vocabulary (Robihim, 2008), so by understanding the vocabulary learned on the FlipGrid platform, media can also be an additional vocabulary for students in developing their speaking skills.
Based on the understanding of 8 th -grade students' vocabulary, which is sufficient to learn this; however, using the FlipGrid platform, there is still a need for instructions from the teacher so that learning can run more optimally. After students are familiar with the learning interface and task instructions, teachers can let students learn independently (Tseng, Liou, & Chu, 2020). Teachers' participation in monitoring student assignments' completion also plays a vital role in developing students' speaking skills. With collaborative skills, students can increase motivation and student learning involvement in learning activities outside the classroom (Putri, 2020).

CONCLUSIONS
Learning Mandarin in speaking is done in various ways, one of which is by using an online platform that can make learning more exciting and fun. Using FlipGrid in 8th-grade students positively impacts both speaking and reading learning progress. Through this research, it can be seen that learning Mandarin, especially memorizing phrases, is a challenge for language learning. However, it can be known that using FlipGrid can make students more active in speaking and memorizing vocabulary. In reality, not all students have the same habits and preferences; it is hoped that more interactive teaching and fairly broad material can provide a clear picture. More appropriate for students and even increase the effectiveness of student learning. The FlipGrid platform can improve students' memory in learning languages, not only in reading skills but also in terms of remembering the Mandarin characters that have been known, but when faced with critical thinking test questions, students themselves must be able to think out of the box and not only learn from the online learning application FlipGrid.
However, in future developments, the research is still limited to the scope of students at one level of education unit within the scope unit, so it is straightforward to be influenced by internal factors from the students themselves. For further research, it is hoped that it can cover a broader level, for example, one unit of a junior high school class, so that the data obtained can be representative.