Generative Artificial Intelligence and the Digital Transformation of Foreign Language Education: Opportunities, Challenges, and Strategies
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Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has emerged as a transformative technology that is reshaping teaching, learning, and educational ecosystems and accelerating the digital transformation of foreign language education. Beyond serving as a technological tool, GenAI offers significant opportunities for personalized and adaptive learning, generative and interactive pedagogy, transformed teacher and learner roles, and AI-mediated feedback and assessment. At the same time, its widespread adoption raises critical challenges concerning teacher readiness, unequal student capacity, assessment validity, ethical and integrity concerns, and institutional governance gaps. This review synthesizes recent research on the application of GenAI in foreign language education and examines its implications for the ongoing digital transformation of language teaching and learning. Specifically, it reviews emerging opportunities, analyzes key challenges encountered by educational institutions, teachers, and learners, and proposes strategies across three interrelated dimensions. Rather than viewing GenAI merely as an instructional technology, this review argues that it should be understood as a catalyst for the systemic transformation of foreign language education. It provides a comprehensive overview of current developments and offers practical insights for educators, researchers, and policy-makers seeking to promote sustainable and responsible digital transformation in language education.
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