This study investigates how Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) influences Artificial Intelligence Acceptance (AIA) among Chinese university English teachers, focusing on the dual mediating roles of organisational support and self-efficacy. Drawing on structural equation modelling of survey data from 153 instructors, the results show that TPACK significantly predicts AIA, with self-efficacy accounting for this relationship. Drawing on a structural equation model analysis of survey data from 153 English instructors, we demonstrate that TPACK significantly predicts AIA, and self-efficacy played an explanatory role in this relationship. Organisational support further mediates the pathway from AI-Technical Knowledge (AI-TK) to TPACK, highlighting institutional mechanisms that strengthen teachers' pedagogical capacity for AI integration. Three critical pathways are identified: (1) a direct TPACK → AIA trajectory, (2) an AI-TK → OS → TPACK → AIA institutional chain and (3) a TPACK → SE → AIA motivational loop. Positioning AI as a form of assistive technology, the findings highlight its role in enhancing teachers' instructional capacity while promoting accessibility, personalised scaffolding and inclusive opportunities for diverse learners. By integrating Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) and assistive technology perspectives, the study reframes TPACK as interaction readiness, organisational support as a socio-technical affordance, and self-efficacy as interaction efficacy. This interdisciplinary framing highlights that AI acceptance is not only a matter of knowledge and psychology, but also of designing human–AI collaborations that promote usability, accessibility and inclusive pedagogy. The results offer actionable implications for AI training programs, highlighting the importance of integrating technical upskilling with organisational mechanisms.
Xiong et al. (2025) studied this question.