A Survey of Code-switched Arabic NLP: Progress, Challenges, and Future Directions

Injy Hamed, Caroline Sabty, Slim Abdennadher, Ngoc Thang Vu, Thamar Solorio, Nizar Habash


Abstract
Language in the Arab world presents a complex diglossic and multilingual setting, involving the use of Modern Standard Arabic, various dialects and sub-dialects, as well as multiple European languages. This diverse linguistic landscape has given rise to code-switching, both within Arabic varieties and between Arabic and foreign languages. The widespread occurrence of code-switching across the region makes it vital to address these linguistic needs when developing language technologies. In this paper, we provide a review of the current literature in the field of code-switched Arabic NLP, offering a broad perspective on ongoing efforts, challenges, research gaps, and recommendations for future research directions.
Anthology ID:
2025.coling-main.307
Volume:
Proceedings of the 31st International Conference on Computational Linguistics
Month:
January
Year:
2025
Address:
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Editors:
Owen Rambow, Leo Wanner, Marianna Apidianaki, Hend Al-Khalifa, Barbara Di Eugenio, Steven Schockaert
Venue:
COLING
SIG:
Publisher:
Association for Computational Linguistics
Note:
Pages:
4561–4585
Language:
URL:
https://aclanthology.org/2025.coling-main.307/
DOI:
Bibkey:
Cite (ACL):
Injy Hamed, Caroline Sabty, Slim Abdennadher, Ngoc Thang Vu, Thamar Solorio, and Nizar Habash. 2025. A Survey of Code-switched Arabic NLP: Progress, Challenges, and Future Directions. In Proceedings of the 31st International Conference on Computational Linguistics, pages 4561–4585, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Association for Computational Linguistics.
Cite (Informal):
A Survey of Code-switched Arabic NLP: Progress, Challenges, and Future Directions (Hamed et al., COLING 2025)
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PDF:
https://aclanthology.org/2025.coling-main.307.pdf