A mobile learning application for Malaysian sign language education

Abstract

Malaysian Sign language is the primary means of communication among the deaf-mute community in Malaysia for many years since it was first created in 1998 when the Malaysian Federation of Deaf was first established. Although Malaysian Sign Language is widely used among the deaf-mute community, hearing individuals often have little or no exposure to the usage of sign language due to the lack of pervasive environment for the usage of sign language. There is also a lack of effective mobile learning application that encourages and facilitates the learning of sign language. This creates a communication gap among the deaf-mute community and the hearing individuals. The objective of the project is to design a mobile application that can facilitate the learning of sign language and ultimately bridging the gap between deaf-mute communities and hearing individuals. A survey was carried out to elicit the requirements of potential users. The sample population was drawn from Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia (BIMMFD) Facebook group and Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) students. The questionnaire consists of multiple-choice questions, open-ended question and dichotomous questions which can be logically divided into demographic questions, questions on the experience of a participant on sign language, preferred learning methods and the preferred features of the application. The findings show that there is a need for an effective and interactive mobile application for learning sign language. Most of the respondents agreed that video tutorials are their preferred learning method as it is more dynamic than learning via images or books. A majority of the respondents also have no experience in using a sign language learning application due to the lack of availability on the market. Moreover, most of the participants also show interest in using a mobile application in learning Malaysian Sign Language. Some respondents also requested the feature of a built-in dictionary. Thus, the findings validate that SLEM has its demand and potential to provide a more accessible and user-friendly means to learn Malaysian Sign Language. The application has the potential to be commercialized to industries and communities such as sign language learning institutions, the public and individuals who are related to deaf or verbally challenged individuals. This paper provides directions and guidance for further development of this educational mobile application.