Contradiction and Construction: A Cultural‐Historical Activity Theory Analysis of a Chinese German Language Teacher's Professional Identity Formation With Generative AI

ABSTRACT The rapid advancement of generative AI (GenAI) is reshaping foreign language education, challenging teachers’ professional identities. Framed by third‐generation Cultural‐Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), this case study investigates how a secondary school German teacher in China developed her professional identity through GenAI integration. Findings revealed four levels of contradictions: primary (efficiency vs. competence), secondary (AI content vs. norms; skill gaps; AI vs. creativity), tertiary (traditional vs. AI‐supported pedagogy), and quaternary (tensions with colleagues and students). Resolving these contradictions transformed her identity across four dimensions. Epistemically, she became a reflective “quality gatekeeper.” Pedagogically, a human‐AI collaborative instructional designer. Relationally, a selective collaborator and digital literacy facilitator. Agentively, a reflective practitioner progressing from technology‐dependent anxiety to agentive practice. Her trajectory shifted from incremental adaptation toward emergent expansive learning. This study illuminates how language teachers can transform contradiction‐driven disruption into resilient, multidimensional professional identity development, demonstrating that teacher identity can be strengthened, not diminished, through active engagement with GenAI.