The British Institute in Paris organises a foundation course designed to equip prospective teachers who have little or no experience in TEFL with the necessary basic skills. Both native speakers of English and other non-native speakers with an excellent command of English are admitted to the course. The course runs over 30 weeks, from September to June. The syllabus integrates theory and practice. Practical work takes various forms.
Trainees are responsible for teaching a language topic to their peers.
They also work in collaboration with experienced Institute teachers in their regular classes, observing and performing teaching tasks. Trainees also work in groups on the joint planning and execution of a series of teaching problems. For all these tasks the emphasis is on co-operative planning, evaluation and professional development. Trainees receive detailed feedback on their performance and are guided to reflect on their experiential learning and to relate it to the more theoretical aspects of the course, which leads to the British Institute Certificate in TEFL . Admission is normally by interview.