Arab Pioneering in Applied Linguistics and Arabic Language Teaching an Expanded Reading of Its Heritage Foundations and Modern Extensions

Abstract

This article explores the heritage foundations of applied linguistics in classical Arabic linguistic thought and examines their relationship to modern linguistic theories. Adopting an inductive-analytical approach, the study investigates the contributions of Arab scholars to language teaching, language acquisition, pragmatics, psycholinguistics, and lexicography. It argues that Arabic linguistic scholarship emerged from a fundamentally practical concern: the preservation, regulation, and effective transmission of language. At the same time, the article advocates a balanced perspective that acknowledges the richness of the Arabic linguistic heritage without collapsing historical differences or claiming that premodern scholars formulated modern theories in identical terms. Such a perspective opens the way for a rigorous scholarly dialogue between heritage and modernity.