Courses for ITAs

Graduate students who want to or are required to have teaching experience in the American classroom need to have excellent English language skills because, while professors and colleagues might understand the challenges of mastering English, employers and students might have little patience for communication problems resulting from weak language skills. To participate successfully as a teaching assistant in the Washington University academic environment, graduate students who are non-native English language speakers are expected to be able to:

• Express their knowledge in words
• Speak to a variety of audiences
• Rephrase concepts
• Give examples that show the application of concepts
• Show the connections of concepts and ideas
• Respond to unexpected questions and comments
• Interact socially with faculty, administrators, staff, and students

Since improving language skills requires time and monitored practice, English language proficiency issues must be considered early in a non-native English speaking graduate student's program of study if he/she will be a teaching assistant.

The prospective international teaching assistant (ITA) must take the ELP TA Exam for a complete assessment of how well he or she would perform in the American university classroom. If the prospective ITA displays weaknesses in English language or teaching skills which would interfere with effective classroom communication, appropriate courses or tutorials are recommended. For maximum benefit, the prospective ITA must take the recommended course or courses as soon as possible after taking the ESL TA exam.

Here is a flowchart of the possible paths a non-native English speaking graduate student might take through the ELP training courses:

For an overview of the listening and speaking courses offered by the English Language Programs, click here to see a diagram. Several of the courses are specifically designed to help ITAs develop effective classroom communication skills:

• U15 ELP 170, Oral Presentation Skills for the Non-Native English Speaker, focuses on development of lecture organization, "teaching" vocabulary commonly used in classroom situations, nonverbal communication in the teaching context, and the American perspective of learning and teaching theory;
• U15 ELP 175, Academic and Professional Seminar Speaking Skills, recycles some of the skills covered in ESL 170 but delves more deeply into the areas of discussion leading and intercultural communication skills;
• U15 ELP 101 (taught by Mielke and Schwelle ), Advanced Pronunciation I, and ELP 102, Advanced Pronunciation II, offer a curriculum which helps advanced learners improve their oral production of the English language at the sound, word, and sentence level;
• U15 ELP 1403, American Idioms and Slang, exposes participants to conversational situations reflecting American social customs that can serve as a basis for cross-cultural discussions and offers opportunities to increase student understanding and use of high frequency American idioms and slang.
• U15 ELP 200, Speaking and Grammar I or II, focuses on facilitating grammatical accuracy and fluency in spoken English through contextual practice.
• U15 ELP 470, Teaching Assistant Preparation focuses on cross-cultural classroom dynamics helping students refine presentation skills, conversational fluency, and pronunciation comprehensibility by leading group discussions and group work, giving mini-lectures, and fielding questions.

Before taking the ESL TA Exam, it is recommended that all non-native English speaking graduate students be assessed in both written and oral English skills. These general English language proficiency assessments are administered primarily at the beginning of each semester (see each semester's testing schedule ); however, students may arrange any type of assessment during or between semesters, as well. Courses are designed to help students improve their writing, listening, and speaking skills through the structured development of self monitoring and self editing skills.

In addition to English language courses, other types of English language support available to non-native English speaking students include tutorials and workshops conducted by ELP staff as well as conversation partner programs with community volunteers.

Workshops, tutorials, and conversation partners are best utilized in addition to ELP classes or by those students who have taken the proficiency assessments and have been judged as not needing the structured environment of a class.

How Departments can Monitor Student Progress
When students are admitted, departments enter information about English language proficiency in FSA Atlas. If a department has required a student to take the WU ELP general language proficiency assessments or if the graduate student is in the the School of Arts and Sciences and will be required to take an ELP TA test, this information is input into the Student Information Systen (SIS) so that deaprtments and students can check student status in student internal records. Testing requirements are listed under Milestones and student progress in taking the tests or in taking ELP classes are listed under Test Scores. To decipher the test score codes, go to the ELP Score Descriptions.