Learners' Needs for Gamified Mobile Learning in Arabic Reading for the Development of the I-Mubtadiin Mobile Application

The growing integration of mobile technologies in education has created new opportunities to enhance language learning through flexible, interactive, and learner-centred approaches. Despite the increasing availability of mobile learning applications, relatively few studies have examined learners' needs prior to the development of gamified mobile applications for Arabic reading, particularly among beginner learners in Malaysian higher education. This study aimed to identify learners' needs for the development of the i-Mubtadiin mobile application by investigating the challenges encountered in Arabic reading, learners' readiness for mobile learning, preferred gamification elements, and desired application features. A sequential mixed-methods design was employed, consisting of a quantitative survey involving 80 undergraduate students enrolled in introductory Arabic language courses at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), selected using convenience sampling because they represented the intended users of the proposed application, followed by Focus Group Discussions involving 10 purposively selected participants. The questionnaire was reviewed by experts in Arabic language education, instructional technology, and educational measurement to establish content validity and was piloted with 30 beginner learners. The instrument demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha values exceeding the recommended threshold of .70. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, while qualitative data were analysed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis. The findings indicated that beginner learners experienced considerable difficulties in Arabic reading, particularly in pronunciation, vowel differentiation, reading fluency, and vocabulary acquisition. The results also revealed a high level of readiness to adopt mobile-assisted learning and strong preferences for gamification elements that support learning, including immediate feedback, interactive quizzes, rewards, and progress tracking. Furthermore, learners identified audio pronunciation, interactive reading exercises, user-friendly navigation, and immediate corrective feedback as the most essential features for the proposed application. The integration of quantitative and qualitative findings consistently demonstrated that these preferences reflected learners' expectations for structured, learner-centred, and self-directed mobile learning experiences. The study highlights the importance of conducting a learner-centred needs analysis during the instructional design process and provides empirical evidence to guide the development of the i-Mubtadiin gamified mobile application for improving Arabic reading among beginner learners.

Arabic reading, beginner learners, gamified learning, mobile learning, needs analysis, educational technology, i-Mubtadiin

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