This study examines how college English teachers’ Artificial Intelligence (AI) literacy influences pedagogical transformation, using a mixed-methods case study of a first-year undergraduate English debate contest (N=90 students). Findings reveal a significant positive correlation (r = 0.72, p < 0.01) between higher teacher AI literacy (encompassing technical, pedagogical, critical, and ethical dimensions) and more transformative teaching practices. Teachers with robust AI literacy fostered student-centred learning, strategically integrated AI as a collaborative tool, and explicitly guided critical evaluation of outputs. Consequently, their students demonstrated significantly greater improvements (p < 0.05) in argument depth, research quality, and critical source evaluation compared to peers taught by instructors with lower AI literacy. While challenges like workload and ethical concerns persist, the study concludes that comprehensive teacher AI literacy is essential for harnessing AI’s potential to enhance critical thinking and authentic language learning in higher education. Prioritizing discipline-specific teacher development is crucial.
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (AI) literacy, Language Teaching, pedagogical transformation
