| Sumario: | Background: Informal digital learning of English (IDLE) contributes significantly to language development, and teachers play an essential role in supporting IDLE, especially in the K‐12 context. Yet, insights into K‐12 teachers' instructional practices in support of IDLE and influencing factors thereof are limited. Objectives: Considering that professional learning influences teachers' instructional decision‐making, this study aimed to examine how formal and informal sources of professional learning related to teachers' instructional practices in supporting IDLE. Methods: We adopted a mixed‐methods sequential explanatory design that involved a questionnaire and semi‐structured interview. A total of 1760 K‐12 language teachers completed an online survey, and nine teachers were recruited for follow‐up interviews to explain and elaborate on the quantitative findings. Results and Conclusions: SEM analyses of survey responses revealed that informal professional learning sources fully mediated the association between formal professional development and teachers' instructional strategies in support of IDLE. Informal professional learning sources had varying impacts, with interaction with students and reflection emerging as the most significant contributors. However, their influence varied across different types of instructional practices. The findings emphasise the need for utilising different informal professional learning sources to enhance K‐12 teachers' attention and engagement in supporting students' IDLE. Lay Summary: What is currently known about this topic? ○Teachers play a significant role in shaping students' engagement and experiences with IDLE.○Professional learning affects language teachers' engagement in supporting IDLE.○Different sources of professional learning might shape teachers' classroom technology integration differently.What does this paper add? ○We integrated different sources of professional learning for nuanced analysis.○We identified types of professional learning that contribute to instructional practices supporting IDLE.○We highlighted the salience of informal professional learning in teacher training programs.Implications for practice/or policy ○Formal professional training programs need to stimulate concomitant informal professional learning.○Teachers need to diversify their professional learning experiences to support students' agentic engagement with IDLE.○The findings point out the need to encourage teachers' reflexivity towards IDLE‐related instructional moves through interaction with students.
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