1) The work fills a gap in literature since it sheds light on the discussions and scholarly production of TAFL Arab scholars within the Arab world and partially outside of it during the last sixty years (1958-2018), a question never explored by other authors until today 2) The work puts in the limelight the interplay between the Arab region research environments and the rest of the world, together with Arab scholars stances, linking them to the scientific advance in the field of modern language teaching. This aspect has been hardly stressed until today, as TAFL often remained encaged in self-referential debates 3) The results of the study are particularly significant since they not only trace the history of TAFL over time, though they also highlight the peculiarities of the TAFL debates and evolutions in the different Arab countries, with special attention to Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Jordan. The study also provides a Glossary of 1.186 entries.