Two college teachers won the top prizes in a national foreign-language teaching competition that lasted six months before ending Tuesday in Shanghai.

More than 1,500 universities and colleges from around the country participated.

Tao Xin of Capital Medical University in Beijing won first prize for comprehensive course education, while Dai Jiaxi, a teacher from Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, won first prize for colloquial course education.

The competition, now in its fourth year, explores innovative teaching models and aims to improve the overall level of China's foreign language education. It is sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.