From Technology-Challenged Teachers to Empowered Digitalized Citizens: Exploring the Profiles and Antecedents of Teacher AI Literacy in the Chinese EFL Context

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) literacy has come to the spotlight, empowering individuals to adeptly navigate the modern digitalised world. However, studies on teacher AI literacy in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context remain limited. This study aims to identify intraindividual differences in AI literacy and examine its associations with age and years of teaching experience among 782 English teachers. Given the absence of a reliable instrument to measure teacher AI literacy, we first constructed and validated a scale encompassing five sub-scales: AI Knowledge, AI Use, AI Assessment, AI Design, and AI Ethics. Subsequently, latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted using Mplus 7.4, with the results revealing four distinct profiles: Poor AI literacy (C1: 12.1%), Moderate AI literacy (C2: 45.5%), Good AI literacy (C3: 28.4%), and Excellent AI literacy (C4: 14.1%). Multinomial logistic regression analyses indicated significant associations between teacher AI literacy and both age and years of teaching experience. Additionally, 32 respondents participated in semi-structured interviews. The qualitative data analysed with MAXQDA 2022 triangulated the quantitative results and offered deeper insights into teachers’ perceptions of their AI literacy. This study provides both theoretical and practical implications for understanding teacher AI literacy in the Chinese EFL context.