Abstract

China has launched a nation-wide project of learning English as a “core” subject starting from the third grade in primary schools after the Ministry of Education (MOE) issued National English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education at the beginning of this century. However, EFL teachers are far from sufficient in rural schools, and thus students are in a more disadvantageous position compared to their peers in the urban area. To meet this need, many Zhuangang teachers are employed after being trained. This study examined a phonics-oriented training program in which scholars and practitioners cooperated to train EFL teachers and prospective trainers in rural west China. The current study collected data about EFL teachers’ perceptions on the effect of this program and student achievement. The results showed that the training program was quite effective with EFL teachers regarding the program as helpful and students obtaining significantly better scores. These findings indicate that phonics-oriented professional support system is a good way to make teacher development sustainable in the long run.

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