This study explored the impact of a cognitive presence (CP)-aligned blended community of inquiry (BCoI) intervention on undergraduate English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ meaningful learning outcomes (MLOs, operationalized as English proficiency via items adapted from the College English Test Band 4, a national English proficiency test in China) and the relationship between CP and MLOs. Using a single-group pretest-posttest design with 37 participants, MLOs were measured before and after a 11-week intervention, with CP assessed post-intervention. Analyses included paired-samples t-tests (with effect sizes) and Spearman’s rank-order correlations. Post-intervention MLOs (M= 40.79, 95% CI [37.08, 44.30]) significantly exceeded pre-intervention scores (M=31.85, 95% CI [28.11, 35.41]), with a large effect (Cohen’s d = 1.004). Total CP correlated moderately with post-intervention MLOs (rs = 0.361, p = .028), with resolution (CP4: rs = 0.379, p = 0.021) showing the most prominent association, followed by exploration (CP2: rs = 0.338, p = 0.041) and integration (CP3: rs = 0.325, p = 0.050); triggering (CP1) was non-significant (rs = 0.261, p = 0.118). Findings suggest phase-aligned BCoI interventions may enhance EFL meaningful learning outcomes, with later CP phases (e.g., resolution) potentially playing key roles, though the single-group design limits causal inference. These offer implications for practical blended learning design in EFL contexts.
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