Exploring the landscape of EFL teachers' professional development in China: a scoping review

While Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for all teachers is a key attribute of China’s educational landscape, there are few studies that have been published in English on in-service English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) teacher support in its elementary and secondary schools. This is the first scoping review of English-language research into in-service Chinese teachers’ CPD, which aims to explore what has been published over the past 15 years in order to gain a better understanding of this vast, dynamic, and often misunderstood context. Following a rigorous and systematic methodological framework, we identified 27 recently published articles and book chapters, focusing on their bibliographic characteristics while considering how these individual studies might be unified, ultimately contributing to a more holistic understanding of CPD provision for in-service Chinese EFL teachers. We conclude with recommendations for CPD providers, for policy-makers, and for future researchers to use this study as a step towards further exploration into this unique context.