Technology Enhanced Arabic Language Teaching and Learning: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Technology has increasingly reshaped Arabic language education through mobile applications, learning management systems, gamification, artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and other digital tools. However, the literature remains fragmented across technologies, language skills, learner populations and pedagogical models. This systematic literature review synthesises research on technology-enhanced Arabic language teaching and learning, with particular attention to digital tools, pedagogical approaches, learning outcomes, implementation challenges, and emerging research directions. The review followed the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, with predefined eligibility criteria, database searching, dual screening, quality appraisal, data extraction, and thematic synthesis. The evidence reviewed indicates that technology can strengthen learner engagement, accessibility, vocabulary development, speaking and writing practice, formative feedback, and learner autonomy when digital tools are aligned with explicit pedagogical objectives. The strongest recurring pattern is not the superiority of a particular platform but the importance of pedagogical integration: technology is most productive when teachers provide scaffolding, feedback, interaction, and contextualised language use. The review also identifies persistent challenges involving teacher digital competence, infrastructure, Arabic-language resource quality, linguistic and cultural contextualisation, algorithmic limitations, and unequal access to resources. Whereas previous reviews examined single technologies (gamification, mobile learning, AR, VR, or AI) in isolation, this review integrates them into one technology-pedagogy-outcome framework, linking each technology to its pedagogical functions, targeted skills, outcomes, and implementation conditions.