Mobile apps as language-learning tools Challenges, problems and solutions of specialised lexicography - Ingenta Connect
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Mobile apps as language-learning tools Challenges, problems and solutions of specialised lexicography Silga Sviķe Ventspils University of Applied Sciences This contribution researches various translation dictionaries – mobile apps with Latvian that are available for free on the Google Play Store and sets out the experience of developing specialised translation dictionaries at Ventspils University of Applied Sciences (VUAS). The results encounter three different dictionary models that are compiled for the acquisition of Languages for Special Purposes (LSPs) to support vocabulary (term) learn- ing, translation, reading, listening and writing skills during the foreign language-learning process. Dictionaries with grammatical information and rich, supportive data or encyclopaedic information added are more useful for understanding specific domain concepts and content, as well as for the translation practice. Thus, the dictionary user does not have to look for another application or other source to get this additional information. Each new app takes up some space on the user’s smart device; therefore, it is important to maximise the support provided by a single dictionary. The research provides insight into the range of dictionaries with Latvian avail- able on the Google Play Store, gives a brief description, and explains the practical experience of VUAS when working on developing such dictionar- ies and applying them for language-learning purposes and specialised ter- minology courses for students. The study also provides an overview of challenges, problems and lexicographic and information technology solu- tions for mobile applications. The goal of the research is analysing and characterising those free-of-charge dictionaries in the form of mobile apps with Latvian as one of the translation languages. Surveys were used to gather and analyse research data. A survey of dictionary users and a survey of language learners using dictionary apps were carried out after the devel- opment of the specialised dictionaries. Keywords: mobile apps, specialised dictionaries, language learning, languages for special purposes, translation https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.20006.svi AILA Review 34:1 (2021), pp. 19–36. ISSN 1461-0213 | E‑ISSN 1570-5595 © AILA
20 Silga Sviķe
1. Introduction
Dictionary apps are valuable tools because of their capacity for publishing media
and the fact that they are available for use on mobile devices that are always avail-
able. Certainly, the contents and functionality of such dictionaries are important
so that they can be swiftly and effectively used for language learning and trans-
lating. Most of the largest compilers of general dictionaries have quickly adapted
to the increased use of various mobile devices and have developed mobile ver-
sions for their dictionaries (e.g., the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the Oxford
Dictionary of English). This is generally applied to the larger and more popular
languages, whereas the offer for languages like Latvian currently is not as wide.
Although the development of specialised dictionaries in the form of mobile apps
is a relatively recent trend, the number and use of such dictionaries are constantly
increasing.
The present article focuses on specialised dictionaries in the form of mobile
apps that also function as an element in the acquisition of LSPs. In order to reach
a wider public and to ensure that the translation and transfer of specialised con-
tent and communication in the specialised fields are as clear and accurate as pos-
sible, for LSPs, it is crucial to discover how the tools – specialised dictionaries –
look at the present moment, and what they should look like in order to achieve
the goals. Specialised dictionaries not only support the acquisition of specialised
vocabulary but also contribute to the development of specialised languages. (Van
der Yeught, 2018, p. 7) Specialised dictionaries are very important because they
provide information that general dictionaries sometimes do not include at all.
They must be not only user-friendly and easy to use but also reliable.
A theory of developing shared languages should consider the importance of
specialised vocabulary in language learning. Specialised translation dictionaries
in the form of mobile applications can be used as an additional tool to facilitate
the process of learning special vocabulary. Such dictionaries would also be useful
in specialised subjects (e.g., biology, zoology, geography, chemistry) at schools to
summarise the terminology of each of these subjects. In the theory of shared lan-
guages, transdisciplinarity is very important; it is implemented in described spe-
cialised dictionary projects by involving collaborators at different levels.
The article reviews the current situation regarding the selection of online
translating dictionaries (mobile apps) and characterises the development experi-
ence of such dictionaries. The article consists of several sections – an insight into
the selection of free-of-charge mobile app translating dictionaries with Latvian on
the Google Play Store, a brief overview of the development of prototypes of such
dictionaries, describing the VUAS experience, as well as the purpose of the usageMobile apps as language-learning tools 21
of such prototypes and a description of users’ evaluations. Short conclusions are
given at the end of the article.
2. Mobile application dictionaries on the Google Play Store for the
translation from Latvian into other languages and vice versa
Taking into account that the study analyses and reviews translating dictionaries
in the form of mobile apps, it is necessary to define the term mobile app before
analysing the research material. “Mobile applications, commonly referred to as
apps, are software developed for use on wireless mobile devices such as smart-
phones and tablets. Apps are designed with the limitations and features of mobile
devices in mind” (Clement, 2019).
VUAS offers students to learn English, Russian, German, Spanish, French,
Chinese, Swedish, Norwegian and Czech, as well as translation studies. Therefore,
this study researches how to apply various mobile app translation dictionaries to
language acquisition. In this article, mobile learning or m-learning is understood
as the ability to learn by using different mobile technologies. However, m-learning
is also a relatively chaotic environment (Kacetl & Klimová, 2019, p. 7). Because
of many different apps of varying quality, the user may be confused; therefore,
they need to be studied in more detail. In order to characterise the mobile app,
translating dictionaries and machine translators available on Google Play accord-
ing to the set criteria, only free-of-charge dictionary apps with Latvian as one of
the languages have been chosen, taking into account that Google Play generates
the largest amount of worldwide app downloads (Clement, 2019). The Android
mobile operating system was chosen because “Android maintained its position
as the leading mobile operating system worldwide in December 2019, controlling
the mobile OS market with a 74.13 per cent share. Google Android and Apple
iOS jointly possess almost 99 per cent of the global market share” (O’Dea, 2020).
Data on the dictionaries available on the Google Play Store have been compiled
by the students of VUAS Translation Study Faculty (TSF) during the so-called
Project Week under the supervision of the author of the present article. A total of
40 translation dictionary apps were collected and analysed. The data were com-
piled in order to discover how many (free-of-charge) dictionaries are available on
the Google Play Store for translation from and into Latvian, what other languages
they translate, as well as to describe their functionality and whether and how they
can be applied to courses of the specialised translation, and to summarise the con-
clusions following the criteria on the data obtained.
The dictionaries were selected by entering the keywords latviešu vārdnīca
(Latvian dictionary) in the search field of the Google Play Store. The following22 Silga Sviķe
data were compiled on the selected 40 dictionaries for the purposes of the study:
(1) author, publisher and developer of the dictionary; (2) languages of the dic-
tionary; (3) volume of the dictionary; (4) the textual structure of the dictionary
in accordance with the description of C. Müller-Spitzer (2013, pp. 367–381); (5)
the rating of dictionary users and the total number of reviews; (6) number of
downloads on the Google Play Store; (7) download size of the app. The data gath-
ered on the selected dictionaries were organised in a table, and the results will be
described below.
Thirteen various dictionary developers were identified during the research,
but only two of them are registered in Latvia – Tilde Translator developed by
Tilde.com and the Estonian-Latvian dictionary developed with the help of the
Latvian Language Agency. Without going deeper into the classification of the dic-
tionaries and evaluating the dictionaries from the user’s viewpoint and how the
dictionaries can be applied to translation from or into the Latvian language, all
bilingual and multilingual translation dictionaries can be divided into following
groups: the monodirectional and bidirectional dictionaries. Monodirectional dic-
tionaries can only be used to translate from another language into Latvian or from
Latvian into another language, whereas bidirectional dictionaries can be used
both to translate from Latvian into another language and vice versa.
Ten monodirectional bilingual translation dictionaries that can be used to
translate into Latvian were found in the analysed material. The majority, i.e., four
of them, were English-Latvian, whilst two of them were Russian-Latvian dictio-
naries, whereas there was one dictionary containing each of the other languages
in combination with Latvian. It must be emphasised that no French-Latvian dic-
tionaries were found in the category of translation dictionaries on the Google
Play Store, which indicates that dictionaries with this pair are needed and should
be developed. Another five dictionaries in the group of monodirectional dictio-
naries are intended for translation from Latvian into other languages – English,
Norwegian, Kazakh, Thai, Malay. Quite a wide diversity was found in the group
of bidirectional dictionaries, i.e., dictionaries used for translating from Latvian
into another language and vice versa, with the majority being Latvian-English,
English-Latvian, Latvian-Russian, and Russian-Latvian. The majority of the bidi-
rectional dictionaries are multilingual translation dictionaries (or translators),
offering to translate into three to 65 different languages, but they are not always
reliable enough for translation into Latvian. Some of them also offer pronuncia-
tion recordings of the entry words; however, they are often unclear or incorrect.
Based on the Internet connection, the analysed dictionaries can be divided
into the following groups: dictionaries used online and offline, and dictionaries
that can be used online as well as offline with fewer functionalities. In the prac-
tical translation part during the research process, the students discovered thatMobile apps as language-learning tools 23
dictionaries with more functionalities proved to be more useful, such as pro-
viding information on the parts of speech, pronunciation, meanings of words in
different contexts, a wide range of examples, saving search history on the app,
bidirectional translation, and simple and clear structure. Whilst checking the dic-
tionaries practically during the translation process, it appeared that they contain
few specialised terms. Also, general language words in Latvian are often given
under incorrect forms, thus indicating that the dictionaries have been compiled
automatically, and the material has not been thoroughly reviewed. Such dictio-
naries are not always reliable.
The average size of the analysed dictionaries (mobile apps) is 2–7 MB,
whereas dictionaries that can be used offline are 20–80 MB. It was concluded that
the size of the most reliable dictionaries is larger than 20 MB. Overall, 18 dictio-
naries out of 40 had more than 1,000 downloads, and multilingual dictionaries
are more popular than bilingual ones.
In total, ten out of 40 translation dictionaries found on the Google Play Store
did not have user ratings; eight dictionaries were rated with less than 4 out of 5
stars; 18 dictionaries were rated with 4.0 to 4.9 stars; and only three dictionaries
were rated with 5 stars. Only 12 dictionaries were rated by more than 100 users,
and only 9 dictionaries were rated by 1,000 and more users. Based on the analyses
of the material, it was concluded that the rating was not objective, as the dictio-
naries did not correspond to the Google Play Store rating if analysed according to
the criteria set for the study.
The analysed general dictionaries were mostly large-volume (from 10,947 to
550,000 words) translation dictionaries as machine translators that are usually
not useful for translating specialised texts. During the practical testing in spe-
cialised courses of translation, it was concluded that there were no specialised
terms included in bilingual translation dictionaries.
As mentioned above, the translations of general lexis in multilingual trans-
lation dictionaries were often incorrect. In addition, pop-up advertisements are
disturbing during work, as they distract users and obstruct word search. It must
be pointed out that in order to start using the mobile app dictionary, additional
files must often be downloaded to the smart device apart from the application,
and sometimes various useful and valuable additional functions are available for
a fee only. Certainly, the main aspect is the dictionary contents, but the above-
mentioned aspects should be taken into account by dictionary developers in order
to create more useful and user-friendly dictionaries. “Steps should be taken to
foster a view of translation as a goal-driven communicative activity that is com-
patible with the most institutionally dominant teaching methods and is able to
produce interactive knowledge about languages and cultures” (Pym, Malmkjær,24 Silga Sviķe
& Guttierrez-Colon Plana, 2013, p. 139). Therefore, high-quality and reliable dic-
tionaries should be developed and integrated into the language teaching process.
M-learning is becoming a salient feature of education. (Kacetl & Klimová,
2019, p. 1). Dictionaries in the form of mobile applications are useful not only
for language lessons and translation but also for terminology courses. Mobile
devices are characterised by the following criteria: portability and mobility,
social connectivity, context-sensitivity and individuality (Gangayamaran &
Pasupathi, 2017, p. 11243). It is portability and mobility that enables users to
access dictionaries on mobile devices to learn terms instantly when needed and
for interpreting and translation tasks in translation courses. Of course, mobile
devices also have their disadvantages, such as small screen, a small amount of
memory, technical problems.
Google Play Store was also used to search for the available free-of-charge spe-
cialised terminology dictionaries with Latvian as one of the languages in accor-
dance with the abovementioned method. Keywords latviešu terminu vārdnīca
(Latvian terminology dictionary) were entered in the search field; however, there
are no such free-of-charge specialised dictionaries in Latvian on the Google Play
Store at all.
When keywords term dictionary are typed in the search field of the Google
Play Store, the first five apps that appear are dictionaries of medical, computer,
financial and computer and business terms. The first one – the dictionary of med-
ical terms (Medical Dictionary: Search and Vocabulary developed by Medical
Group Soft) is multilingual (8 languages in total, Latvian not included), but the
interface language has to be changed in order to access the translation in each lan-
guage. The other four are only explanatory dictionaries of English offering defini-
tions of specific domain terms, but not their translations. All five dictionaries have
a rating above 4.5 stars. The number of downloads is from 50,000 to 1 million,
which suggests that they attract a high level of interest.
Whilst working in specialised translation courses at VUAS, it was concluded
that in addition to translation memory software such as, for example, SDL Trados
Studio, Memsource, Star Transit and others, students also use machine translation
tools, e.g., Google Translate and Hugo.lv, as well as other (monolingual and mul-
tilingual) online dictionaries, such as oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com, dict.leo.org,
duden.de, letonika.lv and tezaurs.lv. During practical translation courses at VUAS,
it has been found that such large electronic online dictionaries are often used,
and, with complete grammatical information and phonetic guidelines, they are
very suitable for translation students to gain all the necessary information about
specific words. Therefore, dictionaries with a wide range of entries, collocations,
examples, additional encyclopaedic information and broad grammar appendices
are valuable tools not only for language learning but also for translation, especiallyMobile apps as language-learning tools 25
if it is the second or third foreign language for the translator. It must be underlined
that students also use search engine tools (e.g., Linguee.com) alongside translation
dictionaries, and they seek concordance results in a large translation memory
database to find parts of previously translated texts that match the new text to be
translated.
Considering that students of the Faculty of Translation Studies at VUAS
learn various languages at an advanced level as well as master specialised study
courses in translation, various tools, in particular, specialised translation dictio-
naries in Latvian, are needed. There are many articles on the necessity of spe-
cialised (terminology) dictionaries with Latvian as one of the working languages,
for instance, the publications by Ineta Balode (2012, pp. 16–61), Anita Helviga &
Elīna Peina (2016, pp. 127–158), and this necessity has also been proven by organis-
ing surveys of potential users of the developed specialised dictionaries (see Sviķe,
2018, pp. 228–241). In its scientific and research work, the VUAS Faculty of Trans-
lation Studies aims to occupy a niche in the branch of Applied Linguistics along
with other Latvian universities. Therefore, since 2017, it has also developed special
terminological dictionaries (mobile applications). Mobile apps are also another
way to learn new words or revise them without leaving one’s comfort zone – at
home, in a garden or whilst travelling.
It should be noted that the author of the article agrees with the opinion that
translation “is not a language-learning method in itself. It can be and is usually
combined with a number of general teaching approaches” (Pym, Malmkjær, &
Guttierrez-Colon Plana, 2013, p. 135). Practice has shown that it is best to combine
different language teaching and learning methods, including also dictionaries as
a tool in the language-learning process. The question is how to make dictionaries
more attractive so that they can be used more frequently?
The VUAS experience in the development and testing of three various spe-
cialised translation dictionaries as well as in the practical application in transla-
tion courses and learning of LSPs is described further in the article based in a real
practical setting.
3. Development of specialised dictionaries (mobile applications) at the
VUAS
There are three specialised dictionaries developed at VUAS: (1) The New Botan-
ical Dictionary, Latvian-Latin-English-Russian-German Terms (NBD), (2)
Latvian-German-Latvian Glossary of Contract Law Terms (GCLT) and (3)
English-Latvian-English Phrasebook and Dictionary of Medical Terms (MED),
and they will be briefly described in the following section of the article. VUAS26 Silga Sviķe
financially supported the development of all the dictionaries mentioned, and
the dictionaries were implemented as internal scientific projects of VUAS. The
intended users of these dictionaries are college-level and adult students. However,
this does not exclude the possibility that dictionaries could be used by others,
for instance, pupils when learning specialised subjects at school (such as biology,
geography or natural sciences). They will also be useful in applying the content
and language integrated learning (CLIL) method in the acquisition of specialised
subjects.
All of the dictionaries developed are so-called bidirectional translation dic-
tionaries. As the dictionary titles indicate, NBD is a multilingual dictionary, but
both GCLT and MED are bilingual translation dictionaries. Surveys of potential
users were carried out prior to developing the dictionaries in order to clarify the
needs and preferences of the users (Sviķe, 2018, pp. 228–241), and those needs
were taken into account when developing the dictionaries. As Kacetl & Klimová
indicate (2019, p. 7), respecting the students’ needs is one of the weak points in
the SWOT analysis of m-learning. There are several studies on the development,
methodology and macro- and microstructure of the dictionaries (e.g., Rudziša,
Sviķe, & Štekerhofa, 2019, pp. 379–391; Sviķe & Stalažs, 2019, pp. 418–429; Sviķe &
Šķirmante, 2019, pp. 1–17; Sviķe, Kaija, Gorbunovs, Veckalne, & Šķirmante, 2020,
pp. 412–424). In order to provide insight into the translation opportunities pro-
vided by the dictionaries, the data on their functionality with regard to the con-
tents can be viewed in Table 1. The table shows that MED offers the widest range
of functions.
Table 1. Comparison of the functionality and characterising data of the translation
dictionaries developed at VUAS
Dictionary NBD (prototype) GCLT (prototype) MED
Volume 800 200 3800 units
Languages Latvian, Latin, English, German, Latvian English, Latvian
Russian, German
Functionality 1. Translation of 1. Translation of 1. Translation of terms
terms terms 2. Definitions of terms
2. Definitions of terms 2. Definitions of 3. Grammatical
3. Grammatical terms information
information 3. Grammatical 4. Hyperlinks to
4. Hyperlinks to information additional
additional 4. Hyperlinks to information, e.g., links
information, e.g., additional to sites
links to other information, e.g.,
dictionariesMobile apps as language-learning tools 27
Table 1. (continued)
Dictionary NBD (prototype) GCLT (prototype) MED
5. Specific additional links to other 5. Specific additional
information based sources information based on
on the field 5. Collocations the field
6. Images 6. Examples 6. Collocations
7. Examples
8. Pronunciation with
audio files
9. Educational games
(games and interactive
tasks for the
acquisition of terms)
10. Review of
grammatical theory
3.1 An insight into the functionality of the NBD
In order to understand the possibilities of the NBD, we should look into the
main body and particularly the entry structure of the dictionary. Each entry
of the NBD is formed of translation and explanatory sections. The translation
section contains the search word or words that are entered into the entry field
of the dictionary and a functional search button placed next to the entry field.
There is a pictogram below, and after the user presses the pictogram, the screen
shows a plant image stored in the database of the mobile app. There is the lan-
guage and equivalent box under the entry field, and alphabetically organised
equivalents of a term are given in other languages right after the Latin term.
German, Latvian and Russian term equivalents contain grammatical references:
gender and number. The grammatical references help the user in working with
the dictionary – when forming collocations, using them in an exercise, and cre-
ating sentences and text.
The explanatory section of the entry is placed under the language box. It
consists of a hyperlink to the description of the entry word in Wikipedia, the
open-access multilingual encyclopaedia, and it was one of the preferences of the
respondents (potential users of the dictionary) mentioned in the survey carried
out prior to developing the dictionary. The definition of the search entry is pro-
vided in Latvian, and it was retrieved from the consolidated site of Latvian dic-
tionaries www.tezaurs.lv using specialised software, since linking to other existing
dictionaries was another preference expressed by the potential users. The part
under the explanatory section gives the abbreviations and labels used, e.g., expla-28 Silga Sviķe
nations of the Latin abbreviations in the dictionary (pluralis, singularis, etc.). Indi-
cations of taxonomic levels and labels with colours: search word or words are
marked in particular colours in the entry, depending on whether they refer to a
genus or a species. A compilers’ comment section is given under this section with
explanations of a specific entry, if applicable. (Sviķe & Šķirmante, 2019, pp. 4 –7)
Since botany is a specialised science, the visual information, i.e., the drawings
in the visual part of the dictionary, is especially important. The illustrative mate-
rial aids in the understanding of the meanings of the terms and, therefore, also
facilitates the acquisition of them. Pictures are also often useful in translating spe-
cialised texts. In order to provide support in understanding the taxonomic cat-
egories (e.g., family, genus, species, subspecies), NBD’s solution is to mark the
categories with colours. It means that the searched words are marked in various
colours, e.g., genus is marked in green, but species in blue. The dictionary is still
being developed, and both the Android and iOS versions of the app will be acces-
sible on the Google Play and Apple Stores over the next few years.
3.2 An insight into the functionality of the GLCT
The GLCT was developed for use in the VUAS TSF course of Contract Transla-
tion. It is also aimed at the acquisition of legal terms in Latvian and German, but
it will also be useful to professional translators in translating legal texts. As pro-
vided in Table 1, besides the term equivalents, the GLCT also offers definitions
of the given terms, collocations and examples. The entry structure of the GLCT
is described in Rudziša et al. (2019, pp. 387–388). After the user types the search
word into the entry field, the term is found in the database of the app and returned
as a translation, definition, collocations and examples in Latvian and German.
The user can individually choose to show or hide details of the sections Definition
(Definīcija) and Example (Piemērs) using the (+) and (−) characters. This enables
the user to learn the term meanings according to the definition by reading and
closing the definition (using (−)); this method is also applicable when revising the
terms. The definitions and example sections in this glossary also contain active
hyperlinks to provide access to specific sources of information, which provide a
possibility to read a given term in a wider context.
This glossary is also a prototype; however, it has already been applied prac-
tically in the Contract Translation course at VUAS for two academic years. A
method where students have to learn key terms before translation task indepen-
dently using the application proved to be useful in the classes. Since the glossary
only contains 200 basic terms, it will be improved over the following stages of
the project implementation. In accordance with the students’ recommendations,
examples, collocations and definitions are especially useful in the translation workMobile apps as language-learning tools 29
aside from term equivalents. Students of the Faculty of Translation Studies of
VUAS create glossaries in Excel tables for the terminology course, where they
compile other complicated terms of the legal field. The terms compiled in these
glossaries are a good source for the completion of the GLCT material.
The following improvements are planned for the upcoming stages of GLCT
completion and app modernisation: (1) completion of the basic term section with
new terms and collocations; (2) development of new definitions for entries where
no ready-made definitions are available; (3) aggregation of additional translation
examples and adding to entries, as well as adding examples of contract texts from
real life to the entry structure; (4) adding links to the sites useful in translation on
the topic of Contract Law terminology, as well as a summary of such electronic
sources; (5) connecting the mobile app database to translation software like SDL
Trados Studio, thus giving the opportunity to use the gathered data in the transla-
tion of large-volume texts using a translation memory.
3.3 An insight into the functionality of the MED
The MED was developed through a collaboration between the teaching staff and
researchers of VUAS and Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU). The MED is designed
both for the master students of the Translation Studies Faculty of VUAS in the
study course Translation of Medical Texts in English and Latvian, as well as for
the medical students of RSU. Many foreign students study medicine at RSU, and
students communicate with their lecturers in English. However, patients do not
always speak English. Therefore, foreign students need an aid that ensures com-
munication in Latvian about the main medicine-related issues. Latvian must be
acquired to such a level that enables communication with the patient after the
studies. Students must acquire such communication skills already during their
studies so that they can apply them in their professional lives as doctors. To
enhance this practice, the RSU Language Centre has been creating glossaries of
the main terms and most important issues and instructions for various medical
subfields for several years now. Still, since the glossaries are on separate files, it is
challenging to apply them in real live communication. Therefore, VUAS, in col-
laboration with RSU, developed a specific application, MED, that would help in
the acquisition of LSPs, more particularly, the language of the healthcare indus-
try. Although the needs of RSU (e.g., pronunciation of Latvian terms, explanation
of grammar) and VUAS students (e.g., collocations, examples, definitions) were
slightly different (the preferences of the potential users of the MED were obtained
in a survey), the dictionary developers found a solution.
As shown in the data summary (Table 1), the functionality of the MED is the
broadest, as the structure of the main body is formed of three substructures –30 Silga Sviķe
phrase book, grammar overview of the Latvian language with tables and a part
with study exercises. The entry structure of the phrasebook is as follows: the
search element, a word/phrase, question or instruction (such elements are
included in the dictionary database) are shown under the search word after the
user presses the search button. A microphone pictogram can be seen under the
search term that enables the user to listen to the pronunciation of the Latvian
equivalent. The English equivalent of the term is given below, along with the def-
inition, a hyperlink to an extended source, as well as an example and indication
of the medical subfield to which the term corresponds. As on GLCT, the user can
show or hide the details of the Definition and Example with (↑) and (↓) arrows.
All elements of the dictionary are divided into 33 thematic categories, and the
majority of them corresponds to specific medical subfields (e.g., occupational ill-
nesses, oncology), but some of them are general (e.g., body parts, pain). User
can search for terms and other search elements within one thematic category by
choosing the pictogram with the symbol for external link . The user can thus
learn only a set of terms for each specific medical subfield and prepare for an
exam in the particular course. An upgrade to this dictionary includes the possibil-
ity to listen to the pronunciation of words. The audio recordings were made by the
fourth-year students of VUAS TSF (native speakers of Latvian). The audio play-
back function provides support to the user by developing listening skills.
The subcategory of Latvian grammar overview combines various tables and
provides a short overview of grammar theory that is useful for beginners. The
hybrid nature of the MED is shown in the subsection of learning exercises, which
was one of the wishes expressed by the potential users in the survey. The inclusion
of games in a dictionary is an attractive aspect that encourages users. The dictio-
nary contains the following exercises organised from the easiest to the most diffi-
cult: (1) flashcards, (2) matching game, where the user can choose the equivalent
of a specific term in one of the languages and check the accuracy afterwards, (3)
writing game, where the user must type in the equivalent of a term in the other
language on the app keyboard and can check the answer afterwards. (Sviķe et al.,
2020, pp. 420–422)
The learning section embedded into the dictionary gives the user the oppor-
tunity to improve writing and reading skills, as well as offers support in learning
the new words (terms). The positive impact of flashcards on vocabulary learning
has been proven useful multiple times as compared with traditional teaching
methods. Already in 1994, Jan-Arjen Mondria and Siebrich Mondria-De Vries
(p. 56) concluded that “even without a repetition system, working with word cards
has great advantages, but, when the learner does have the disposal of the cards, the
deck of cards can easily be transformed into a hand computer which considerably
increases the cost-effectiveness of learning with the help of cards.” Also, recentMobile apps as language-learning tools 31
studies show that “the contribution of vocabulary flashcard in teaching vocabu-
lary to students led to a higher level of vocabulary improvement” (Komachali &
Khodareza, 2012, p. 134).
The MED project is completed, and the small-volume dictionary has already
been handed to its first users – VUAS and RSU students. The dictionary has been
published in both the Google Play Store and the Apple Store. Since this is the first
dictionary of this kind with the Latvian language, an evaluation survey was cre-
ated in order to obtain a rating from its first users. An analysis of the survey data
is described in the following section of the article.
4. Evaluation of the MED dictionary: User survey data
A MED evaluation survey form was created in Google Forms and sent out elec-
tronically to the dictionary users. Twenty-three respondents participated in the
survey, and it is a qualitative survey; therefore, extensive quantitative data was not
obtained. The survey consisted of the following 12 questions: (1) Where do you
study/work? (2) What is your Latvian (for RSU students) / English (for VUAS stu-
dents) / foreign (for others) language level? (3) How do you rate the usefulness of
the whole MED application (on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest))? (4) How
do you rate the usefulness of the Translation part (term search part without gram-
mar and games) of the MED application (on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 5 (high-
est))? (5) How do you rate the usefulness of the educational games part of MED
application (on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest))? (6) How do you rate the
usefulness of the part Review of Latvian Grammar of MED application (on a scale
from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest)? (7) Which subject (or situations) would you use the
MED dictionary for? (8) Please describe the advantages of the MED application.
(9) Please describe the disadvantages of the MED application. (10) Would you
recommend the MED application to other students working with medical terms?
(11) How do you rate the quality of audio recordings? (12) Do you have any com-
ments/suggestions?
Overall, 87% of the participants in the survey were RSU students, and 13%
were VUAS students. According to the self-evaluation of the respondents, their
level of Latvian and English is: 39.1% – A1, 34.8% – A2, 8.7% – B1; level B2 was
not marked by any respondent, but C1 and C2 were marked by 8.7% of respon-
dents each.
The data presented in Table 2 show that more than 50% of the first users eval-
uate the dictionary positively. More than half of respondents rated the usefulness
of the dictionary with 5 points. When rated separately, the grammar overview sec-
tion gained the highest evaluation of all the sections. It can be linked to the fact32 Silga Sviķe
that the majority of respondents indicated A1 as their level of language. Since RSU
students make up the majority of respondents, most probably, foreign students
were indicating their level of Latvian. It can be assumed that at this stage of lan-
guage acquisition, the grammar of the Latvian language is the most challenging
and is considered to be relatively complex. Users express praise for the grammar
overview of the Latvian language included in the dictionary.
Table 2. Evaluation of the usefulness of the dictionary in the survey
Aspect to be assessed Assessment on a scale from 1 to 5 (%)
Usefulness of the: 1 2 3 4 5
Whole MED 0 0 13 13 74
Translation part 0 0 8.7 34.8 56.5
Educational games part 0 0 13 21.7 52.5
Latvian grammar overview 0 0 13 21.7 65.3
Respondents indicate that they will use the MED in various specialised
courses, such as obstetrics, as well as in the Latvian language course, in clinical
trials, at the hospital, and in patient contact. Others mentioned that they would
use the MED dictionary when away from the computer, when translating medical
texts and practising at home if bored. Answers of the respondents show that the
dictionary in the form of a mobile app is an efficient way to learn medical ter-
minology anytime and anywhere, if only a mobile device with the dictionary is
available. Table 3 shows the advantages and disadvantages of the MED mentioned
in the respondents’ answers. Respondents appreciate the opportunity of learning
the terms provided in the dictionary. The disadvantages mentioned are actually
good feedback for improving the efficiency and functionality of the dictionary
in the future. It should be noted that 80% of respondents stated that they did
not find any substantial shortages. It is possible that educational elements (e.g.,
games, flashcards) included in dictionaries later would be one of the opportuni-
ties to attract more dictionary users and would therefore be more useful in lan-
guage learning. Electronic format is convenient for further swift modernisation
and updating of the dictionary.
In total, 87% of respondents recognise that they would recommend the MED
application to other students working with medical terms, but 4.3% would not,
whereas 8.7% had chosen the answer option “other”, without indicating their
opinion. Since the audio recordings in the app were made by students, it was
important for the dictionary developers to find out the rating of the quality of the
audio recordings.Mobile apps as language-learning tools 33
Table 3. Advantages and disadvantages of MED mentioned in the questionnaire
Advantages Disadvantages
Easy to use Sometimes it is slow
Easy to practice vocabulary in the bus and when It could be improved with more
waiting for something difficult terms
Convenient way to learn vocabulary more quickly and It could be improved with a larger
easily number of terms
A quick way to find useful phrases in patient-doctor Unhandy design
dialogue
The evaluations (see Table 4) show that the methodology of the audio record-
ings must be improved because the pronunciation of Latvian terms is important
for foreign students in language acquisition. In the survey carried out prior to
the development of the dictionary, users expressed a wish for every audio record-
ing to be made in a male and female voice, but this aspect was not implemented.
The recording files are relatively large, and compressing them decreases the qual-
ity. Solutions are still to be sought, and the research should be extended because
adding audio recordings to specialised resources is uncommon and novel.
Table 4. Evaluation of the quality of the audio recordings
Assessment (points) 1 2 3 4 5
Assessment of the respondents (%) 0 0 30.4 34.8 34.8
Respondents shared some comments and suggestions in the questionnaire.
They suggest that it would be useful to find a way of keeping track of the game
score, like suggestions of what one needs to learn more – similar to the Quizlet
system (a free website providing learning tools). Respondents expressed a wish to
record their patients talking and to perform automatic translation. One respon-
dent suggests improving the design with the help of some professional designers
for a more modern look. Developing a system to track the results of the educa-
tional games for monitoring user’s results is one of the comments that should be
taken into account. This would be a motivating factor for independent learning
of the terms. It should be noted that the evaluation of the MED functionality is
in line with the view that “gamification is a very important feature in performing
repetition tasks, which can be rather boring. Learning a new language can be
so. Therefore, playing with the words and competing versus others can be very
encouraging, thus, stimulating the learning process.” (Gafni, Achituv &
Rachmani, 2017, p. 315). The inclusion of educational games in the dictionary34 Silga Sviķe
could be a good solution to facilitate more frequent use of dictionaries in language
learning.
5. Short summary and conclusions
Considering the experience of the lexicographers who compiled the existing spe-
cialised dictionaries – mobile apps, it is possible to summarise a number of issues
related to developing a new electronic lexicographic work and using them in LSPs
learning. There are some conclusions and recommendations that could be use-
ful not only to dictionary application developers but also to users and language
teachers.
Cooperation between all interested parties is crucial when developing new
support tools for language acquisition, in this case – mobile apps. They are (1)
potential users whose preferences and needs were identified in the survey; (2) dic-
tionary developers (lexicographers, linguists consulting with domain experts, as
well as programmers); (3) teachers who would give support in working with such
tools; (4) sponsor (VUAS) that is also an interested party in this case, since the
products of the project can be used not only by the students and graduates of the
university college but by a wider group of users. It is also important to apply users’
feedback and recommendations in the following empirical studies.
The mobile app translation dictionaries available free of charge on the Google
Play Store are not particularly customised to learning a language for specific pur-
poses, as they do not include specific domain terms, and most of them are com-
piled automatically and have not been carefully edited. They are designed for
language learners to find information fast and easily when learning a language and
to get an overview and general information of a particular text.
As various tools for language learning and translation are being developed
in an educational institution, users’ needs can be accurately gauged (via surveys;
involving field specialists, and during students’ internships), and grammatical
explanations, additional references (hyperlinks), translation examples, audio (for
language learning) can be provided. However, human and financial resources are
indispensable, and special training is needed.
Still, available mobile app dictionaries with Latvian are not sufficient for
learning an LSP or for using them to translate specific texts, as they are often
faulty. They can help to develop such skills as translating, listening, reading and
sometimes writing, but they are less useful for speaking.Mobile apps as language-learning tools 35
Funding
This research has been funded by the Latvian Council of Science, project “Smart complex of
information systems of specialized biology lexis for the research and preservation of linguistic
diversity“, No. lzp-2020/1-0179.
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Address for correspondence
Silga Sviķe
Ventspils University of Applied Sciences
Inženieru Street 101A
Ventspils, LV-3601
Latvia
silga.svike@venta.lvYou can also read
