Reconceptualizing Foreign Language Education through Artificial Intelligence: Smart Teaching Innovation under the New Liberal Arts

The implementation of China’s New Liberal Arts initiative and the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) have accelerated the transformation of foreign language education. This paper explores the application of smart teaching in foreign language education under the New Liberal Arts framework. Through literature review and teaching practice, it proposes a smart teaching ecological model integrating digital learning resources, intelligent instructional interaction, personalized learning, and data-driven evaluation. A blended teaching framework is developed to demonstrate how AI-supported smart teaching enhances students’ language proficiency, intercultural communicative competence, critical thinking, and autonomous learning. The study also discusses challenges related to teachers’ digital competence. The findings suggest that smart teaching represents a comprehensive innovation in educational philosophy, instructional design, and learning evaluation, providing practical implications for the digital transformation and sustainable development of foreign language education.