With the growing and increasing interest among non-native speakers in learning the Arabic language, along with the rapid technological advancements of our time, it has become essential to evaluate the current state of this field and the extent to which available technological and technical resources are being utilized. A quick overview reveals that, despite the importance of leveraging smartphones and their applications in language learning, and despite the significant role that artificial intelligence plays across various aspects of our lives, the studies that have linked these two domains remain very limited. Therefore, this study represents an attempt to address the existing gap in critical studies concerned with evaluating and assessing this field.

This study evaluates a number of applications designed for teaching Arabic to non-native speakers, examining the extent to which they utilize the capabilities of artificial intelligence. The aim of this evaluation is to identify the most effective ways to make use of available tools in order to promote and enhance the teaching of the Arabic language.

The study concludes that there is a clear disparity between global language-learning applications and those specifically designed for teaching Arabic to non-native speakers, particularly in terms of their use of various technological capabilities in application development. It also finds that only two out of twenty-five Arabic language-learning applications have incorporated artificial intelligence, and even then, in a limited way. In contrast, four out of five applications dedicated to teaching major world languages have employed artificial intelligence efficiently. This finding is striking and calls for specialists in this field to implement immediate and fundamental changes in Arabic language-learning applications for non-native speakers.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, smartphone applications, Arabic for non-native speakers, Arabic language teaching, mobile learning.