scholarly journals The Effectiveness of Smartphone and Tablet PC Apps for Japanese Language Learning

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-82
Author(s):  
Fusako Ota

The emergence of smartphones and tablet PCs in the second decade ofthe 21 sf century has furthered possibilities for mobile learning. Thecharacteristics of smartphones and tablet PC devices such as affinity,portability, accessibility and the availability of low cost applications(apps) with various functions have transformed these devices into arealistic means of learning. In fact, it has been reported that manysecond language (L2) learners have used such language learning appsand evaluated them positively. The adaptation of mobile apps for L2language education and training has been actively implemented by notonly individual users but also educational and business sectors in manycountries. Thus, this study explores the effectiveness of smartphone andtablet PC apps for Japanese language learning, focusing on learners ofJapanese at a university in Australia. The types of Japanese languagelearning apps that students have used and their usage are examined, inorder to investigate the effectiveness of such apps. This study aims toprovide helpful information to L2 educators and learners about theadaptation of mobile devices to assist their language teaching andlearning.

This study examined the mobile-assisted language learning studies published from 2007 to 2016 in selected journals from the aspects of adopted mobile devices, mobile learning systems/resources, and the benefits and challenges of utilizing mobile devices or learning systems/resources. The results revealed that the traditional mobile devices (e.g., Personal Digital Assistants, PDAs) and the current popular mobile devices (e.g., smartphones and tablet PCs) were frequently adopted for language learning in different time periods, while wearable devices have not been adopted by any language learning research so far. In addition, most of the studies used researcher-developed learning systems/resources, while the use of educational affordances of free applications or resources needs to be promoted. Furthermore, the abundant benefits of using mobile devices or mobile learning systems/resources for language acquisition were found in many studies, such as providing substantial chances for learning, and providing or building authentic environments for learners’ meaningful knowledge construction; on the other hand, the studies also reported several challenges (e.g., insufficient practice time and the lack of effective learning strategies) to be overcome in the future. Finally, several suggestions are provided for researchers or practitioners to conduct their future work.


Today, the use of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets has become truly ubiquitous. This has created an opportunity for mobile learning to prosper. Mobile learning applications have become so popular that there are thousands of developers and tens of thousands of educational apps on numerous subjects, including language learning, which can be easily downloaded and installed on mobile devices. One area of interest for Muslims is Quranic Arabic vocabulary learning. This qualitative exploratory study aims to examine all Quranic Arabic vocabulary learning applications provided on the Google Play Store website through content analysis in order to determine their features and the teaching activities. Data was gathered both from the ‘product detail’ page on the Play Store and from the testing of the application by the researchers. The findings of this study indicate that most Quranic Arabic vocabulary mobile apps deliver their lessons through a textual interface though there are several apps which also include pictures, audio, and videos in their lessons. Many apps also provide exercises in the form of translation, matching items, and sentence completion. However, only four apps provide assessments. As a conclusion, this exploratory study has shed some light on the current state of Quranic Arabic vocabulary mobile apps in terms of their features and activities and it is hoped that more apps will be developed in the near future to cater to the needs of millions of Muslim adults who want to improve their devotional practices.


Author(s):  
Bin Zou ◽  
Xinxin Yan ◽  
Hui Li

Mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) has been developed rapidly and integrated into language learning in various levels in recent years, particularly for the young generation. Many previous studies reveal that young learners have autonomous learning in using online sources or apps in the MALL context. However, not many studies in China have examined Chinese students' use of MALL. Therefore, this chapter investigates how Chinese college students perceived their use of mobile devices for English as a foreign language (EFL) learning. It was based on two small studies and focused on using online sources and mobile apps for EFL learning on learners' mobile devices. Participants were 166 students from 21 universities in China. Research tools consisted of questionnaires and interviews. The findings demonstrate a high motivation among the participants in using online sources and apps for EFL learning on their mobile devices. The results also showed the impact of different regions on students' attitudes toward MALL. Mobile apps that are related to EFL class context could enhance students' EFL learning.


Author(s):  
Stephen R. Chastain ◽  
Jason Caudill

Podcasting has quickly emerged as a leading technology in the new field of mobile learning. Tracing this new technology’s history over the past two years reveals just how broadly the use of digital audio files may become in the fields of education and training. The ease of use, low cost of creation and hosting, and most importantly pervasiveness of user access to compatible hardware combine to make podcasting a major force in both traditional and distance education. This chapter explores the history, technology, and application of podcasting as an instructional tool.


ReCALL ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnes Kukulska-Hulme ◽  
Lesley Shield

AbstractMobile learning is undergoing rapid evolution. While early generations of mobile learning tended to propose activities that were carefully crafted by educators and technologists, learners are increasingly motivated by their personal learning needs, including those arising from greater mobility and frequent travel. At the same time, it is often argued that mobile devices are particularly suited to supporting social contacts and collaborative learning - claims that have obvious relevance for language learning. A review of publications reporting mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) was undertaken to discover how far mobile devices are being used to support social contact and collaborative learning. In particular, we were interested in speaking and listening practice and in the possibilities for both synchronous and asynchronous interaction in the context of online and distance learning. We reflect on how mobile language learning has developed to date and suggest directions for the future.


ReCALL ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun Lai ◽  
Dongping Zheng

AbstractThe essence of mobile learning is learners’ agentic use of mobile devices to create learning experiences across time and space. Thus, understanding learners’ perceptions and preferred use of mobile devices for learning are critical to realizing the educational potentials of mobile learning. This study explored language learners’ self-directed use of mobile devices beyond the classroom through a survey and interview study with foreign language learners at a university in Hong Kong. A total of 256 learners were surveyed and 18 were interviewed to understand the nature of mobile language learning experiences that these learners engaged in autonomously beyond the classroom. Exploratory factor analysis yielded three dimensions of self-directed out-of-class mobile learning experience. Among the three dimensions, learners were found to use mobile devices more for facilitating the personalization of learning than for enhancing the authenticity and social connection in learning. This study further revealed that selective use was an outcome of the interaction between learner-defined affordances of the devices, their culturally informed and habitual use of the devices, their perceptions of the nature of the learning tasks, and the tempo-spatial circumstances of task implementation. The findings suggest that these factors need to be considered when designing mobile learning activities and educational interventions that promote mobile learning beyond the classroom.


Author(s):  
Fazeena Jamaldeen ◽  
Priyantha Hewagamage ◽  
Yamaya Ekanayaka

<p class="0abstract">Mobile devices have proven to be an appropriate tool which expands the horizons of learning beyond the classroom through means of flexibility and portability. Throughout this study, the authors have worked with a set of design guidelines which were derived from the literature. The artifact developed considering these design guidelines has been evaluated among various user groups for better understanding of m-learning as a tool to support English Language Learning. Findings of these evaluations have been used to improve the design guidelines.  The authors also identify the effectiveness of mobile learning as a supporting medium of learning and as a primary medium of learning among different learner groups, which is another outcome of this study. </p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-321
Author(s):  
Mariia Viktorovna Drygina

In our modern world mobile devices play an important role in the learning process and provide more opportunities for access to educational resources. The use of mobile devices in the learning process is a promising direction that attracts researchers all over the world. Although mobile devices are widely used and they are accessible means of studying, they are still not perceived as means of foreign language learning. The use of mobile technologies will make it possible not only to induce the learning process visibility, divisiveness and interaction, but also to improve the quality of education, and to expand the possibilities for both students and teachers. The paper presents a systematic review of resources on the problem of mobile assisted language learning. The results of the research have shown that this method is widely used by researchers in Scandinavian countries. The classification has been made on the basis of the existing concept of mobile learning. In addition, the paper describes main technical, pedagogical and psychosocial factors which influence the development of modern resources for mobile learning of foreign languages.


Author(s):  
Komang Candra Brata ◽  
Adam Hendra Brata

Advances in smartphone technology have led to the strong emergence of mobile learning (m-learning) on the market to support foreign language learning purposes, especially for the Japanese language. No matter what kind of m-learning application, their goal should help learners to learn the Japanese language independently. However, popular Japanese m-learning applications only accommodate on enhancing reading, vocabulary and writing ability so that user experience issues are still prevalent and may affect the learning outcome. In the context of user experience, usability is one of the essential factors in mobile application development to determine the level of the application’s user experience. In this paper, we advocate for a user experience improvement by using the mental model and A/B testing. The mental model is used to reflect the user’s inner thinking mode. A comparative approach was used to investigate the performance of 20 high-grade students with homogenous backgrounds and coursework. User experience level was measured based on the usability approach on pragmatic quality and hedonic quality like effectiveness (success rate of task completion), efficiency (task completion time) and satisfaction. The results then compared with an existing Japanese m-learning to gather the insight of improvement of our proposed method. Experimental results show that both m-learning versions proved can enhance learner performance in pragmatic attributes. Nevertheless, the study also reveals that an m-learning that employs the conversational mental model in the learning process is more valued by participants in hedonic qualities. Mean that the proposed m-learning which is developed with the mental model consideration and designed using A/B testing is able to provide conversational learning experience intuitively.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 40-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto A. P. Cattaneo ◽  
Elisa Motta ◽  
Jean-Luc Gurtner

In Switzerland, 99% of teenagers own a mobile phone and use it as their primary spare-time activity. Exploiting the affordances that mobile devices have for fostering learning across contexts is therefore imperative for the educational community. This is especially true in the case of dual vocational education and training (VET) – a field under-investigated with respect to mobile learning – where apprentices alternate between a company and vocational school. After introducing the major issues characterising mobile learning and their relevance to the VET context, the paper presents a project involving apprentice chefs and their teacher, with the aim of exemplifying and exploring VET learning between workplace and classroom, as a conversation between the learner, the teacher and the in-company trainer, and to evaluate the results of its implementation in terms of usability, effectiveness, and satisfaction.


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