Professional Development of Foreign Language Teachers in the Era of Digital Intelligence

This paper explores the empowerment mechanisms and practical pathways for foreign language teacher professional development in the digital-intelligence era. With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the field of foreign language education is undergoing profound transformations, presenting new demands on the professional competencies of foreign language teachers. The study examines how digital-intelligence technologies facilitate teachers’ professional growth through cognitive, affective, and behavioral empowerment mechanisms, analyzed from both "internal" and "external" dimensions. The endogenous-driven pathway emphasizes the transformation of teachers' professional cognition and the advancement of their competencies, including the integration of technology, human-machine collaboration, and educational creativity. The exogenous-collaborative pathway focuses on policy support, resource optimization, and the establishment of systematic training systems to build a new digital-intelligence education ecosystem. This research not only enriches the theoretical framework of teacher professional development but also provides practical guidance for foreign language teachers to enhance their capabilities in the digital-intelligence era, contributing significantly to the innovative development of foreign language education in China.