The next generation of language labs: Can mobiles help? A case study

Abstract

One major challenge regarding the use of today's language labs relates to teachers' and students' awareness and computer skills. Most teachers and students may not have the requisite computer skills and might soon become overwhelmed by the sophisticated functionality of today's digital lab systems. Thus, they should be provided with the appropriate training and technical support to reduce the apprehension that is usually associated with new technology. Recurrent technical problems are another shortcoming. Failure to operate the lab equipment efficiently due to hardware or software problems will inevitably cause delays and frustration for both students and instructors. To overcome such problems in existing language labs, this paper presents a novel cross-platform mobile lab system for language learning, called Mlab. The target users of MLab are language teachers and students, and the system offers them the freedom to move around and use their own devices at any time and in any place. Therefore, this research paper presents Mlab development and evaluation through three approaches: a holistic test case scenario, think aloud and interview sessions. The results showed high usability rates and generally positive attitudes toward using the mobile lab system.