College English teachers in China are often confronted with a number of challenges, such as the large class size, limited contact hours, limited linguistic input and output, test-oriented teaching and learning methods, and the lack of professional development opportunities, to name a few. As a result, many university students have gained rich linguistic knowledge and yet are poor in communicative competence. This paper reports a longitudinal, 8-year-long study of an English Enhancement Program in a southeast provincial university which follows a new model of college English teaching at the tertiary level in China. This model is supported by the expanded theoretical framework of communicative competence as both its goal and means, one that encompasses linguistic, pragmatic, discourse, strategic, and intercultural competences. This paper further discusses four implementation domains with concrete innovative strategies that sustain the innovation of the program, namely, 1） innovation in academic design and instruction, 2） a placement and assessment system, 3） faculty support and development, and 4） organizational development capacity.
