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In the digital-intelligent era, the advancement of digital technologies and artificial intelligence has profoundly reshaped the landscape of higher education, placing new demands on the professional development of foreign language teachers. While existing research, both domestically and internationally, has extensively explored digitally enhanced teaching models and teacher digital literacy, it predominantly focuses on pedagogical applications, overlooking the dimension of “digital scholarly competence”—the ability to integrate digital tools and methodologies into the entire research process. This paper reviews current studies, identifies gaps in the narrow focus on teaching rather than research, the lack of interdisciplinary integration, and the absence of systematic development mechanisms. It argues for the necessity of expanding foreign language teachers’ roles from “instructors” to “researchers” equipped with digital scholarly capabilities. Finally, the paper proposes a holistic development framework encompassing a competency structure, interdisciplinary platforms, incentive-evaluation mechanisms, and embedded professional learning communities, aiming to foster a sustainable ecosystem for teacher growth and contribute to the paradigm shift in foreign language studies in the age of digital intelligence.
Development Mechanism; Foreign Language Teacher; Digital Academic Competence
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A Research Review on the Development Mechanism of Foreign Language Teachers’ Digital Academic Competence
How to cite this paper: Jiaosheng Qiu. (2026). A Research Review on the Development Mechanism of Foreign Language Teachers’ Digital Academic Competence. The Educational Review, USA, 10(1), 60-66.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/er.2026.01.011