Mobile Applications for Learning Arabic as a Foreign Language: A Scoping Review of Pedagogical Designs, Learning Outcomes, and Evidence Gaps
Keywords:
Arabic as a foreign language, mobile-assisted language learning, smartphone applications, learning outcomesAbstract
Background: Smartphone applications support Arabic language learning through vocabulary practice, games, dictionaries, augmented reality, and courseware, but study outcomes are heterogeneous. Objective: To map app designs, learning contexts, measured outcomes, and evidence limitations among non-native Arabic learners. Methods: A Population–Concept–Context framework and PRISMA-ScR reporting plan guided preliminary charting of 22 candidate original studies identified through targeted publisher-linked discovery; systematic database screening has not yet been completed. Preliminary findings: The candidate studies include development validation, learner-perception research, pre/post evaluations, and comparative classroom studies. Feasibility ratings, motivation, immediate scores, and durable language competence represent distinct outcomes. Two Wordwall records require confirmation of smartphone delivery, and one study concerns design consensus rather than app implementation. Conclusion: A completed review requires reproducible multilingual searches, independent screening, source-level extraction, and separate analyses of mobile exposure, proficiency, retention, and equity.
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