{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T05:04:58Z","timestamp":1789621498527,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789603200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>The integration of generative AI into foreign language education has profoundly challenged teacher professional identity, particularly for mid-career educators navigating the dual burden of experiential wisdom and technological change. This study employed grounded theory to investigate how 10 mid-career foreign language teachers transition from technology anxiety to symbiosis. Through in-depth interviews and systematic coding, we developed a theoretical model comprising four anxiety types (substitution, autonomy, generational, ethical), three adaptive stages (exploration adjustment, strategy integration, autonomous symbiosis), and the double-edged effects of experiential wisdom as the core mediating mechanism. Findings reveal that experiential wisdom can function as either an evolutionary resource (critical scrutiny, pedagogical design, humanistic commitment) or a barrier (thinking set inertia) depending on its activation mode, with support systems moderating this process. The study reveals the existential dimensions of technology anxiety and offers stage-sensitive implications for supporting mid-career teachers\u2019 professional growth in the AI era.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1914637","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T04:47:53Z","timestamp":1789620473000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["From technology anxiety to technology symbiosis: a grounded theory study of mid-career foreign language teachers\u2019 subjectivity evolution in the AI era"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Zhenhua","family":"Zhao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Education Department, Guangxi Normal University","place":["Guilin, China"]},{"name":"School of Foreign Languages and International Trade, Guilin University of Aerospace Technology","place":["Guilin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dengbin","family":"Xie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Education Department, Guangxi Normal University","place":["Guilin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"Theory in Practice: Increasing Professional Effectiveness","author":"Argyris","year":"1974"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1046","DOI":"10.1177\/1478210316664259","article-title":"Neoliberal education? 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