La formación de profesores de lenguas extranjeras en sistemas abiertos y a distancia en México

Abstract

Surprisingly; the teachers training courses at the university level in Mexico and the rest of the world just started in the seventies. Ten years after; the training courses for foreign language teachers began with the Foreign Language Teachers Training Course at the Language Center in the National University of Mexico. This course was planned to be carried out in the traditional way; and in 1989 it was re-designed to be taught in the so called open system in the area of English. The teachers training course in the open system at CELE is the first one of its type; and it has largely contributed to the training and updating of many teachers in this important educational field. This article; besides describing other courses of the type but of different foreign languages; presents briefly the history of the first seven generations of students who have taken this course in the open system. Among other aspects of the course; the article also describes its general characteristics; antecedents; origins and development; objectives; type of instructors and students; legal status; structure; teaching method; resources and evaluation. Due to all its characteristics; undoubtedly; this course represents a landmark in the history of the foreign language teachers training in Mexico; and contributes to settle the bases for an education which can be reached by a greater number of teacher candidates of this field.