English Education in Rural Secondary Schools in Southwest China: Problems and Countermeasures under the Rural Vitalization Strategy

The Chinese government has proposed the rural vitalization strategy in its poverty reduction, aiming at narrowing the discrepancies in economic levels between urban and rural areas. Under this development blueprint, poverty alleviation through education, one of the imperative approaches mentioned in this overarching strategy, has attracted attention from all sectors of Chinese society. In Southwest China, however, the urban-rural gap in compulsory education is still concerning, especially in English teaching and learning. This has lowered the overall quality of English education in these areas, whereas only a few studies have looked into this issue. Therefore, under the guidance of the rural vitalization strategy, the present study intends to offer a response by calling for more attention on the problems in rural English teaching in various aspects. Furthermore, this study explores the corresponding strategies adopted to solve these problems and discusses their effectiveness of English teaching. It is hoped that the study can develop a theoretical framework about the current issues of English teaching in rural areas under the rural vitalization and can provide practical suggestions for policymakers and educational practitioners.