A comprehensive bibliometric and content analysis of artificial intelligence in language learning: tracing between the years 2017 and 2023

Abstract The rising pervasiveness of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has led applied linguists to combine it with language teaching and learning processes. In many cases, such implementation has significantly contributed to the field. The retrospective amount of literature dedicated on the use of AI in language learning (LL) is overwhelming. Thus, the objective of this paper is to map the existing literature on Artificial Intelligence in language learning through bibliometric and content analysis. From the Scopus database, we systematically explored, after keyword refinement, the prevailing literature of AI in LL. After excluding irrelevant articles, we conducted our study with 606 documents published between 2017 and 2023 for further investigation. This review reinforces our understanding by identifying and distilling the relationships between the content, the contributions, and the contributors. The findings of the study show a rising pattern of AI in LL. Along with the metrics of performance analysis, through VOSviewer and R studio (Biblioshiny), our findings uncovered the influential authors, institutions, countries, and the most influential documents in the field. Moreover, we identified 7 clusters and potential areas of related research through keyword analysis. In addition to the bibliographic details, this review aims to elucidate the content of the field. NVivo 14 and Atlas AI were used to perform content analysis to categorize and present the type of AI used in language learning, Language learning factors, and its participants.