Jahai language repository: a mobile application

Abstract

The Jahai language is facing extinction primarily because it is among the least spoken language among minority groups in Malaysia. This is due to lesser speakers and the shift to using a more dominant language. The Jahai tribe is one of the community groups living in the Royal Belum Perak State Park. People who need assistance from Jahai people often face difficulties in communicating with them due to the language barrier. Therefore, a mobile translation system was developed to preserve the language. The system translates the Jahai terms into Malay language. This way, by using the system, other ethnics in Malaysia can understand the language especially when communicating with Jahai people. Three main steps are required in the translation process; first, key in the text input via special character keypad. Then, the system will search the matching word in the database. Finally, the meaning of the word will be displayed. The testing results have indicated this system is functional and accepted with the SUS score of 94/100. Several future recommendations could be made such as including voice search function and adding more Jahai terms in other categories so as to improve the functionality and usability of this proposed system.