japan application for learning

8/13/2019 Japan Application for Learning

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Developing Mobile pplication for Learning Japanese LanguageFONJ PGOUDC: 004.4:621.395.721.5 ; 811.521'243

MiloS Milutinovi(^', Duan B ara c' , Marijana Des potov ic-Zrak ic ' ,Alcks andar M arkovic ' , Bozida r Radcnkovicf ' Faculty o f Organizational Sciences, Un iversity of Belgrade

This paper presents a mobile application for learning the Japanese language - FONJA PGO. The application is de-veloped on the Android platform for mobile devices. Here are de.scribed th e architecture and the basic components ofthe application. The key F ONJAPG O application s features include: learning words and scripts in the Japanese lan-guage, audio recordings for supporting word pronunciation, achievement testing quizz, the idiogram drawing drill,knowledge competition among the application s users, as well as a presentation of certain interesting facts aboutJapan. We present practical examples of using the FON JAPG O application in learning the Japanese language.

1. IntroductionMobile learning allows for an access to information andlearning materials at any moment, by using mobile de-vices [1]. Th us stud ents a re in a position to control th elearning pace and the location at which they study. Theprevailing definition of omnipresent learning is the fol-lowing: learn any place, any time [1][2]. M obile learn-ing is a form of e-learning implementing wireless tech-nologies to deliver learning contents and secure support L][3]. Using a mobile device in a learning context allows

the students to learn anywhere, at any time [4][5][6].Accessibility to the Internet allows for a fast communi-cation with other users, while the GPS functionalitymakes it possible to access the contents relevant for thelearning goal linked with a particular learner's location.The increase in the flow allows for combining differentmedia types (video, images, text and sound) [1] [2] [7].

Implementation of modern technologies in the field offoreign language learning makes it possible to access amultitude of available contents in the form of books,

dictionaries, literature in foreign languages, as well asvarious multimedia resources, audio and video files.Innovative methods of information presentation andimaginative forms of interaction with the user, the im-plementation of the learning concept based on gamesare interesting to even not so motivated users [8]. A va-riety of learning activities and reso urces could be used toaccom mod ate different learn ers' characteristics [9][10].

The subject of this work is the development of anAndroid application to support the Japanese languagelearning an an innovative and interactive manner,through playing games, primarily learning while mov-ing, anywhere and anytime. The purpose of the appli-cation is to facilitate the learning process by presentingsmaller learning units that can be accessed at any mo-

ment. Simultaneously, one goal is also to help the useradapt to the specific features of the Japanese languagerefiected in complex scripts and find ways to addition-ally motivate the user. Also evident is the problem inequivalent applications for language learning that aregenerally fixed to one language, therefore a further re-quirement was set that the application should be de-vised as multi l ingual. Th e developm ent em ployed allhardware and software advantages and the capacitiesof modern mobile technologies and solutions.

2. lVIobilc applications for foreign languagelearning

Research have shown that well designed mobile appli-cations exert a mo tivatin g effect on langua ge learn ersand generally offer enough studying opportunities inorder to create a positive impact upon the learningprocess. Their value in enriching the formal languagelearnin g at school is bey ond d oub t. It has also beenproven that p roviding an opp ortunity to learn in an in-formal environment increases the amount of t ime the

stud ents invest in learnin g [11]. Foreign languag elearning solutions employing modern technologiescan be classed into three categories: desktop applica-tions, on-line applications, m obile applications.

Desktop solutions can be viewed in a small number ofvoluminous and high quality professional language ap-plications designed by enthusiasts. Characteristic ofthese voluminous solutions is that they require an ab-solute user 's comm itment and a large amount of time tocover the language lessons. On-line solutions are de-

vised on the networking and user-connecting principles.One interesting approach is combining social network-ing sites with language learning where users are guidedtowards helping one another in the learning process. Ageneral tendency is to make use of the products of the


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users themselves, i.e., to involve the users into theprocess of creating and then exchanging various lan-guage resources. The advan tage of the mobile solutionsis in the mobility itself since at any moment they allowfor easy learning or give sup port to serious study using

some othe r tool (in a language school, using regular lit-erature, using desktop aplications, etc.). Today, there isa tendency towards a convergence of all the listed solu-tions. Desktop applications increasingly rely on theInternet to provide language resources and link theirusers; the on-line solutions, in accordance with the ten-dency to store the applications into a cloud, become ca-pable of substituting the desktop applications, their ad-vantage being that they are available at all the plat-.forms; finally, mobile so lutions are developed alongsidethe platforms they are intended for and become ever

more complex, drawing on the Internet connectivitythat becomes a standard for mobile devices.

Some examples of successful applications for languagelearning are the following: MEL-application - learningthe English language through a succession of activitieson a m obile device (lessons, video and audio m aterials,quizzes, memory games) [11]; Mobile Flash applicationFML4ESL - material divided into mini-lessons, applica-tion developed, resolution 240*320, does not conform tolarger screens, lessons accompanied by audio recordings

and flashes [12]; PIMS (Personalized intelligent mobilelearning system) - in combination with a personalizedsystem for vocabulary building, application for studyaid, used in combination with classic classes [13]; PAL-LAS - the system of using mobile device systems madepossible through client application, mobile browser orby SMSs; language activities include tests, exercises, dic-tionary that is browsed manually and the activities thattrigger in dependence on the context paramtres [14].

2 1 Technologies in mobile applicationdevelopment

The technologies implemented in developing mobileapplications should be viewed from a number of per-spectives: services, devices, platforms, languages in ap-plication development, method of wireless communica-tion, types of images, types of multimedia contents.More detail on these technologies can be found in [1][2].

The FQNjapGQ application, developed in the scopeof this research, is designed on th e An droid operatingsystem for mobile devices. Today , Android QS is an

operating system with the largest number of users inthe world. A large num ber of research works deal withthe development and implementation of Android ap-plications in various spheres of human activities [15].The A ndroid QS supp orts a host of different technolo-

gies and resources in a way similar to regular desktopoperating systems, allows for an opportunity for thedevelopment of a high quality user interface via a touch-screen screen.

The main advantages of the Android platform prima-rily refer to: the platform openness to programmers,components available for a simple interaction with thesystem, a wide spread of Android devices and thepresence and development of other types of devices,besides mobile phones, that use the same platform,the touch-screen and multi touch technologies,connectivity, rich user inteface with a variety of ele-ments, data storag e in different formats, message ex-change, multimedia resource support, multitasking.

3. FON JA PG O application descriptionThe FQ NjapGQ application has been developed in theElectronic business laboratory. Faculty ofQrganizational Sciences, University of Belgrade. Thebasic role of the F QN JAP GQ apphcation is to supportthe Japanese language learning in an interesting, inter-active m anner, via mobile devices, in order that the stu-dents be motivated to learn. The application is com-pletely adap ted to specific features of the Japanese lan-guage, it includes a Japanese word base and an appro-priate base of translation equivalent words that can be

in any of available languages. The basic learning processis conducted through the sessions where the student isassigned a task to learn a number of new words and thenhis/her achievement is tested through a quizz. Besides,the user can test his/her knowledge via lists of wor s cat-egorised on the basis of a certain criterion, whereas tolearn some of the scripts he/she has available all the id-iograms of hiragana/ka takana scripts and a number ofkanji, as well as their individual p resentations. To prac-tice notation, quizzes for kana and kanji idiograms aresupplied, as well as a possibility to write on the screen,

using the touch-screen option. Figure 1 presents thebasic functionalities of the FQNJAPGQ application.

Achievetuenltest on word

categories

Idlogram andno t a t i on knowl e dge

Chech

Figure 1 resentation of basic functionalitiesof FON J PGO application

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3 1 Application architecture description user statistics and to com pare the user s knowledgeThe FQNJ AP GQ application consists of two sections: ^it h other users achievemen ts. The three-layer archi-the application in a narrow sense (A ndro id applica- tecture of the application is shown in Figure 2.tion) and the web application that serves to file the

Presentation layer

Teacher

Students

Application logic layer

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application architecture

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Android system

The presentation layer is devised on the basic ele-ments of user interface within the Android QS. Thedynamic interface provides for an easy use of all thefunctions within the application. As the process itselfdoes not require any specific elaboration in the do-main of business logic but is based on a quality pres-entation of language resources and interactivity, themajority of application logic is closely connected with

the presentation. The domain objacts used in the ap-plication present the Japanese/Serbian (or English)words, idiograms of the Japanese script and word lists;all these objects are persisted into the local data base.The words are not stored as word/translation pairs:there are independent notations/objects for the wordsand for the translation equivalents, which allows for aword to be connected with a number of words in theother language (homonyms and synonyms) and elim-inates redundancy in a word base. The applicationcore further draws on a succession of components that

link it to the sources/storages of data that contain ap-plication da ta, language resources and user data.

The first of the c omp onents is in charge of communi-cation with the data base. The broker of the database

that represents the interface to the base is accessiblefrom any section of the application and is responsiblefor reading the language resources (words/ idio-grams/lists) from the base and keeping records onthem. The base is implemen ted using the SQL systemaccessible at the Android platform, however, whenneeded, it can be altered to be adjusted to anotherplatform, with no changes in the core of the applica-

tion itself necessary.

The second component for communication with theAndroid system (Figure 3) additionaly abstracts thecharacteristics of the Android platform from the restof the application and serves to:

Store simple application data to be saved fromsession to session (the Android shared prefer-ences system is used);

Datafiles read ing/parsing (from private storag espace assigned to each Android application);

Dynamic image reading; Presentation of short messages to the user; Provision, temporary storage and releasing audio-

clips of words (leaning on the component for com-munication with the web application).

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Figure 3 . Presentation of the component for comm u

nication with the Android system

The role of the third component is to communicatewith the web application and to access on-line re-sources (audio datafiles ). This process is carried outin the background, independently from the currentstate of the application and without blocking the inter-action with the user. The role of the web application istwofold:

Evidencing available languages and provision ofthese to the user during installation;

Evidencing the user data in the database and filingreports on the results achieved in learning.

3 2 App lication functionality description

When starting the application for the first time, an in-dependent Japanese word base is installed, and theuser is offered a choice of languages in which the ap-propriate or corresponding word base/translation willbe. The list of available languages and the languagefiles are downloaded from the Internet (accessing theweb application) and can be changed or amended in-

dependenUy from the aplHcation itself In the presentversion of the application the available languages areEnglish and Serbian, that is, this application can beused for both English/Japanese and Serbian/Japaneselearning.The main screen of the application offers the user 4cards with respective units (Figure 4):

Learn; W ord lists; Writing; Profile.

Figure 4 . Presentation of the Learn card

The first unit, Learn , ensu res that the learning ses-sion can be started. The user can see how many newwords he is expected to learn within the active session.The n umber of words is determined by the algotythmthat takes into account the user's choice of dificulty(easy/medium/hard), the user's previous achievement,the time elapsed from the last learning session and the

previous learning session status. If the user wants it,he/she can review all the previously learned words.

On starting a new learning session, the user is shown newwords for this session. The presentation of new wordsconsists of the word written in the Latin script, in thekana and kanji scripts and its translations (there may bemore that one translation). If the Internet use is allowedin the application adjustment and on condition there isthe Internet connection available, the application down-loads the respective clip in which the given word is pro-nounced. If the audio clip for a word has been down-loaded recently, it will remain saved in the private spaceof the application and used without being downloadedagain. The en tire process is performed in the backgroundand does not prevent the user from browsing through thewords. With a click on the Done kay the user passes toa new activity in the learning process. A new quizz is pre-sented (Figure 5) that contains all the newly-learnedwords and a number of not-so-well learned words wherethe user failed to achieve favourable results. The quizzconsists of words-questions and a number of words-an-swers. Records are kept for every word separately as to

how many times it was presented to the user and whichis the percentage of correctness, which the user can seein the course of th quizz. The difficulty level the user haschosen at the beginning will have an impact upon the

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number of offered answers as well as upon the varianceof the question/task which can be written either inJapanese (in variotis scripts) or in a respective language.On condition the user's answer during the learning ses-sion is not correct, the application presents a dialoguewith a correct answer. At the end of the quizz, the totalstatistics is presented for the quizz, including the numberof correct/incorrect answers and the average resultachieved at all the prior attempts at the quizz.

Figure 5. Presentation of Qtiizz activity

The next unit, Word lists is presented in Figure 6. Thetest in the knowledge of Japanese words is conductedvia the same quizz, only with detailed adjustments of thequizz itself and the words that are grouped into certaincategories (colours, numerals, anim als...). The user canstart a quick session by clicking on the play key withprevious adjustments, or to make changes by clicking onthe more detail key. A more detailed adjustment al-lows for the user to decide upo n the num ber of choicesfor each question (4/6/8), the choice of the question vari-ance and the choice of the number of words/questionshe is to be asked. A lso presented are the user statisticsachieved on the list he /she has chosen.

Due attention in the application is paid to the Japan esescripts, hiragana, katakana and kanji. Hiragana andKatakana are absolutely equivalent to each other andare often taken under the common name kana , andthey are categorised as such in the application.

Figure presents the Learn Kana unit where there isa posibility to browse through all the Kana idiograms(46 basic for hiragana and katak ana, around 200 withcom binations, and the so-called ticks ). The idio-grams spread over several pages that can be changedand they are arranged in a tabular order. For the pur-pose of better visibility, the idiograms learned arehighlighted. At a click at any of the idiograms a screenappears w ith its detailed presentation which includes:idiogram, pronunciation, the order in which lines aredrawn, example from the word base.

Figure 6. Prcsetttation of Word list card

Figure 7. Presentation of the Japanese scriptlearning unit

Similarly to the kana idiograms unit, the unit of anumber of kanji idiograms is supported. A detailedpresentation of kanji is somewhat different from thatfor the kana idiograms, due to their nature. Presentedare the following: the idiogram, the order in which theline is drawn, the meaning of te on (originallyChinese) and kun (domestic Japanese) pronuncia-tions written in both Latin and hiragana script.

The following two options are used to test the achieve-

ment in learning kana and kanji idiogams and allowfor the quizz to start in which the tasks /questions willbe idiograms instead of Japanese words. Dependingon wherther these are kana or kanji idiograms, theuser is free to choose different adjustments re lated to

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the set of idiograms from which he/she will retrievequestions and the question varience he/she will get.

Due to the specific nature of the Japanese scripts anda large number of idiograms presenting them (around200 kana idiograms and 2000+ kanji idiograms), oneneeds a lot of practice in writing them to be able tolearn them. Here the application makes use of the touch-screen option of the Android pho nes and hasa section for noting the ideograms on the screen(Figure 8 ). In this applica tion, the touch-screen func-tionality is entirely adjusted to the process of learningthe Japanese idiograms in that a gradual fading of thedrawn lines is made possible, at a speed the user cancontrol by a slider. Thus the user is in a position todraw the idiograms (or one idiogram) much faster,successively, not stopping to wipe the screen clean. Asthe user is only beginning to learn how to no te an id-iogram, he/she may introduce semi-transparent gude-lines that will present a desired Japanese idiogram.These idiograms can then be browsed through by con-trols that appear when the guidelines are started.Besides, a detailed instruction is provided for each id-iogram as to the m anner in which it is gradually d rawn,as well as an example of this idiogram used in words.

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Figure 8 Presentation of th e idiogram notationlearning window

The part in which statistics are shown (Figure 9) al-lows the user to see the results achieved in learningnew words, on word lists and on the Japanese idio-grams quizzes. In order that students be more moti-vated to learn, registered users are offered an option

to see the results of other users.

Learn Word lists Wri tii^

Name: NoviUsername: noviUser

Your Stats: Rival's stats:Learning stacs:Tlmcs done: 0 Times done: 0Words done: 0 Words done: 0Score: 0 Store: 0 * n seasTimes done: 1 Times done: 0Words done: 4 Words done: 0Score: 2S Score:Kanji Stats:Times diaie: 0 Times done: 0Words done: 0 WonKdone:0Score: 0 Score: OKLearned characters:HIraga na 4 HIraga na

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