Screen Interface Design for Mobile-assisted Language Learning in EFL Context: A Case Study in Japan

Mobile Technology is constantly evolving and offering new capabilities for supporting higher data transmission, storage, and multimedia formats that can be beneficial for Language Acquisition. Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) publications have been reviewed for two main perspectives: The Content -based approach and the Design- issues approach. This study focuses on understanding these approaches and identifying their main challenges specific to MALL activities. Mobile-based e-learning applications and learning possibilities are tied to the physical attributes of the device, graphical user interface, and the cost of services, collaboration tools, Internet access, and computation capabilities. This article reports extensively on the results of a focus group-oriented study undertaken using an IPod- based English learning application for five advanced (graduate) EFL (English as foreign language)-based students in a Japanese technical university. Results from this pilot analysis were reported towards exploring the design of the IPod interface and how it contributes towards mobile assisted language learning. Results indicate that students are mostly comfortable using handheld devices and completed tasks with reasonable success and efficiency. However, they faltered with few steps mainly due to complexity of the screen interface (lack of on-screen guidance), transition within and between steps, and unresponsive system. The qualitative analysis focused mostly on the design of the graphical user interface, its delivery methods, and user preference and information access patterns. Several recommendations are made for both the design of the interface and how content should be structured.