Trends and Innovations in Arabic Language Learning in the 21st CenturyAn Umbrella Review of Existing Systematic Reviews
Keywords:
Arabic language learning, systematic review;, umbrella review, 21st century innovationAbstract
Arabic language learning has become the subject of at least sixteen independent systematic reviews published between 2024 and 2026, each narrowly focused on a specific sub-theme such as artificial intelligence, gamification, interactive applications, songs, communicative approaches, and mobile learning. This dense and overlapping body of reviews has never been synthesized together. This study is an umbrella review that collects, appraises the methodological quality of, and synthesizes the findings of sixteen systematic reviews on Arabic language learning trends and innovations, using the Population-Concept-Context framework and the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Systematic Reviews. Twelve of the sixteen reviews explicitly reported PRISMA compliance, yet none explicitly reported a quality appraisal tool for their primary studies, a recurring methodological gap across the field. Findings also show a concentration of reviews on higher education and secondary levels, with primary education remaining comparatively underexplored. This manuscript is a working draft; full-text verification of most included reviews and an exhaustive search of Indonesian repositories remain to be completed, as detailed in the Limitations section.
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