Understanding EFL Teachers’ Cognition of Integrating GenAI in Language Education: A Qualitative Inquiry

Generative AI (GenAI) is reshaping the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL), but research on how teachers’ cognition affects their teaching integration is still limited. This qualitative study, based on Borg’s teacher cognition model, explores Chinese university EFL teachers’ cognition on GenAI, aiming to address a gap in understanding how teachers’ beliefs and concerns, the conceptualization and enactment of TPACK and the interpretation and construction of professional roles shape technology adoption. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with six EFL teachers and analyzed through thematic analysis. The results reveal three interrelated dimensions: teachers’ beliefs and concerns form a dynamic balance that plays a regulatory role between technological automation and human agency; the ethical awareness reconstructs TPACK into an ethical-centered system; the role of teachers has changed from knowledge transmitters to learning facilitators and ethical mentors. Based on the findings, this study proposes a techno-ethical teaching framework that combines cognitive pillars, practical mechanisms, and support systems. These findings also indicate that professional training and institutional policies should not only stay at the level of simple technical operations, teachers need to be supported to form technical-ethical judgment, and truly play a central role in the sustainable and responsible GenAI integration.