Toward AI-PCK: Reconceptualizing Pedagogical Content Knowledge Through EFL Teachers' Experiences with Artificial Intelligence

Esfandiari, Shahram; Khalili, Hossein; Faramarzi, Mobin

doi:10.22080/iselt.2026.31339.1174

Toward AI-PCK: Reconceptualizing Pedagogical Content Knowledge Through EFL Teachers' Experiences with Artificial Intelligence

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of English Language Teaching, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran.

² Department of English Language Teaching, Farhangian University, Ardabil, Iran.

10.22080/iselt.2026.31339.1174

Abstract

The increasing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into English language teaching is reshaping how teachers understand and enact pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). This qualitative study explored English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ experiences and perceptions of AI integration and examined their implications for the emerging conceptualization of Artificial Intelligence-Based Pedagogical Content Knowledge (AI-PCK). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 EFL teachers from the province of Zanjan, Iran, and the data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis framework with the support of MAXQDA 2024. The findings suggested that teachers perceive AI as both a pedagogical opportunity and a professional challenge. The participants reported benefits such as improved instructional efficiency, personalized learning, and enhanced classroom engagement, while also expressing concerns regarding student dependency, critical thinking, and the reliability of AI-generated content. Analysis further highlighted three interrelated dimensions of AI-informed pedagogical reasoning: AI literacy, AI-mediated pedagogical integration, and ethical and data-informed professional judgment. Collectively, these findings provide empirical support for the emerging conceptualization of AI-PCK as a context-sensitive extension of PCK in AI-mediated educational environments. The results highlight the need to reconsider how teachers are prepared, supported, and guided through educational policies as AI becomes increasingly embedded in teaching and learning.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Copyright © 2026 The Author(s). Published by the Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages at the University of Mazandaran. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license

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