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Enhancing Japanese Language Materials Development: An Analysis of Usability and Accessibility Issues of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) Solutions in Japanese Language Pedagogy

Stuntz, Daniel Fuller
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1420564963

Abstract Details

2004, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, East Asian Languages and Literatures.
Computers and the Internet can enhance language learning and teaching, resulting in improved productivity and success in the `network society.’ This thesis proposes that in order for computers and the Internet to be capable of `enhancing’ learning and teaching (materials development), three fundamental needs must be met with regard to enhancing Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) materials development especially as it relates to Japanese pedagogy. These needs are (1) Designers, language teachers and students need to work together in the research, planning, developing, and testing of CALL/CALI materials; (2) Devoted CALL materials preparation and development courses need to be created and offered to language teachers in their respective language departments at the university level; and (3) Usability in the context of human interface and interaction design, as a prerequisite for successful productive learning to occur, needs to be a central focus in a CALL materials preparation and development course. Achieving these three fundamental needs ensures the efficacy of computer and Internet-based learning and instructional materials produced by way of both theory and hands-on practice. The idea that `use, as a process of learning, is a prerequisite to design’ (Bødker 1991), is analyzed via further addressing the three needs in a partial literature review on the history and theoretical underpinnings of the Internet, CALL, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and human activity approaches to user interface design. Moreover, to support the premise that more attention must be placed on the human user’s needs and that usability is not opposed to enabling user empowerment and enhancing user satisfaction, results from a survey conducted in the spring of 2004 on computer and Internet use among 17 Japanese language students at The Ohio State University is presented. The survey had three main objectives in mind: (1) To examine computer and online user habits among a random sample of Japanese language learners, from beginner to advanced; (2) To identify Japanese language learners’ attitudes towards incorporating computers and online resources into their learning (and in some cases teaching) strategies; (3) To provide a basis for a more transparent and viable user interface design framework in selecting the features Japanese language learners expect from courseware or online language-learning web sites. The results of the survey suggest that user feedback, that is, knowing learners’ attitudes and habits on the use and incorporating of computers and Internet into their learning strategies, is important in identifying and applying relevant usability principles in the design of the user interface that engenders a more engaging human-centered user experience. The survey results also support the view that user experience is more motivating and helpful when couched in an audiovisual format that provides instructional feedback from either a real-time or delayed (asynchronous) human instructor. Accessibility and speed of connection were the prevailing reasons why students used the Internet for their study/use of Japanese. The students also appeared to be more inclined to find L2 web sites that mimicked the design of equivalent LI or English-based sites more useful or user-friendly than sites designed specifically by Japanese for Japanese. The `helpfulness’ of 52 web options/features/functions reveals an overwhelming connection with usability and accessibility issues, which are supported in the literature and by the pedagogical applications of using CALL. Out of the survey, five usability and accessibility precepts emerge that connect with the user’s approach(es) to using online L2 resources. These precepts are applied in relation to a proposed learning guideline: Hear, Act, Navigate, Achieve (HANA), which balances web-based interactivity with an audiovisual, communicative approach to enable ease of use and enhanced learning of Japanese language and culture. To this end a prototype version of a proposed e-learning/WBT portal website (HANA Learning) and kanji learning site (HANA FLASHKANTEXT) that aids students in learning how to read and write kanji and kanji vocabulary in audiovisual contexts is described and outlined.
Mari Noda (Advisor)
James M. Unger (Committee Member)
185 p.
Asian Studies; Language

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Stuntz, D. F. (2004). Enhancing Japanese Language Materials Development: An Analysis of Usability and Accessibility Issues of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) Solutions in Japanese Language Pedagogy [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1420564963

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Stuntz, Daniel. Enhancing Japanese Language Materials Development: An Analysis of Usability and Accessibility Issues of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) Solutions in Japanese Language Pedagogy. 2004. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1420564963.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Stuntz, Daniel. "Enhancing Japanese Language Materials Development: An Analysis of Usability and Accessibility Issues of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) Solutions in Japanese Language Pedagogy." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1420564963

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1420564963
246
© 2004, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.