A320 ON ARLIN ARRIVAL TO PHX HAS NMAC WITH VFR ACFT. TRAINING IN PROGRESS FOR APCH CTLR MAY HAVE BEEN A FACTOR.

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INSIDE ARLIN INTXN ON THE ARR INTO PHOENIX; WE WERE GIVEN A CLRNC TO DSND FROM 11000 FT TO 8000 FT AND TO TURN TO A HDG OF 030 DEGS. WE WERE THEN GIVEN A HDG OF 010 DEGS. AT ABOUT 10300 FT; THE CTLR ADVISED US THAT SHE RECOMMENDED THAT WE CLB TO 11000 FT BECAUSE SHE SHOWED TFC AT 12 O'CLOCK POS AND 5 MI. AS I REACHED UP TO ADJUST THE ALT AND BEGIN A CLB; I SPOTTED THE TFC WHICH APPEARED TO BE A SINGLE ENG HIGH PERFORMANCE ACFT JUST R OF OUR PATH AND WHAT APPEARED TO BE AT AN ALT VERY CLOSE TO WHERE WE WERE AT. I DISCONNECTED THE AUTOPLT; WENT TO TOGA; AND IMMEDIATELY STARTED A CLB AND A SHALLOW BANK TO THE L SINCE I COULD SEE THE ACFT WAS SLIGHTLY R OF OUR COURSE AND I FIGURED IT WOULD CREATE A LITTLE BIT MORE SEPARATION AS HE PASSED OFF OUR R SIDE. AT THE SAME TIME THAT WE STARTED THE EVASIVE MANEUVER; WE GOT AN RA TO CLB AND FOLLOWED THE COMMANDS AS DIRECTED. WE DID NOT GET A TA PRIOR TO GETTING THE RA. AS WE INITIATED THE CLB I SAW THE ACFT COMING TOWARD US AND HELD MY BREATH HOPING HE WOULD MISS US. WHEN THE TCAS INDICATED CLR OF CONFLICT; WE RETURNED TO NORMAL THRUST AND AUTOPLT AND CONTINUED THE DSCNT WITH A TURN FROM ATC TO INTERCEPT THE LOC. THE CTLR ASKED IF WE NEEDED TO TAKE EVASIVE ACTION TO WHICH I REPLIED; YES; CONSIDERING WE HAD JUST RESPONDED TO AN RA. WE CONTINUED THE APCH TO A NORMAL LNDG AND TAXIED TO THE GATE.