With English being the global language it is, the provision of qualitytraining for professional development becomes a must. In response tothe growing demand in Europe and Latin America, as well as in the restof the world, for improvement in the quality and effectiveness ofEnglish language teaching in both the public and the private sector, anumber of Spanish and Latin American universities have developed aninteruniversity programme in Teaching English as a Foreign Language(TEFL). It is specifically designed for distance learning, and has beendeveloped in collaboration with La Fundación UniversitariaIberoamericana (FUNIBER).

The programme aims to help practicing teachers, or those wishing tobecome teachers, address in an informed and principled way the issuesand professional needs that relate to their own working environment.The type of training is thus developed to encourage the learner’sautonomy without losing sight of elements of constant but flexibleinteraction, tailored to the specific needs of teachers in professionaldevelopment.

As a result, the material used has been designed to be accessed onthe Internet by means of a special interface created for this reason.The interface is a central part of this type of teacher training sincethe virtual interaction, by means of e-mail, discussion groups, chats,etc., bridges the geographical gap between the different components ofthe course.