JCERJournal of Contemporary Educational Research2208-84662208-8474Bio-Byword Scientific Publishing Pty. Ltd.10.26689/JCER.v10i9.15692ArticleTelling the Jingchu Story Well in Japanese: A Culture–Language–Technology Integration Pathway and Learner Development in a Smart Coursehttps://artdesignp.com/journal/JCER/10/9/10.26689/JCER.v10i9.15692LiManqi20261092026-09-30This study addresses how local culture can be effectively embedded in smart foreign language courses. Drawing on one semester of teaching practice in a University Japanese course at a local university, it constructs and validates a culture–language–technology integration pathway—“cultural input–language internalization–dissemination output”—underpinned throughout by human–AI collaboration. Adopting an exploratory mixed-methods design, the study triangulates two rounds of questionnaires (n = 91), platform behavioral logs, and students’ multilingual short-video productions. The results show that the pathway significantly enhanced learners’ engagement and their acceptance of AI tools (84.6% of learners shifted to a more positive attitude toward AI) and effectively strengthened their understanding of local culture and their intercultural communicative competence (ICC) (a 42.9% self-reported improvement). Three transferable design principles are distilled—authentic-audience-driven tasks, AI as a cultural mediator, and human–AI collaborative assessment—offering a reference for the smart transformation of college foreign language education.Jingchu culture, Smart course, University Japanese, Culture–language–technology integration, Teaching pathway, Intercultural communication

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