Ohio State University tries many ways to increase the diversity of its student population, so it should be no surprise that this same diversity can be seen in many of OSU’s professors. While professors’ backgrounds vary more in some majors than others, each major contains at least some variety of professors of different cultures and nationalities.
This diversity can prove to be good at times for many students by giving them more interaction with people from different parts of the world; however, there are times where the search for diversity can do nothing more than create problems for students.
The two departments where there is (most likely) the widest range of diversity among professors are the computer information sciences and electrical/computer engineering departments. Both have many professors and graduate teaching assistants who are not originally from the United States.
The problem with these attempts for diversity often rears its ugly head both in and out of the classroom. Professors and graduate teaching assistants, who were raised in other countries, are almost always using English as a second language. While many have tried hard and done an acceptable job learning English, there are still a good few who are nearly impossible to understand.
You would imagine a thorough screening process would be in place to help guarantee teachers were capable of speaking fluent and concise English that students can understand. However, the process does not seem to be strict enough, as hundreds — if not thousands — of students have to endure the unintelligible babble put out by these professors.
With so many international students and professors, the colleges are not unaware of the problem, but it is not one of their highest concerns either.
For example, it is only at the end of the quarter when concern arises in the evaluations where one question asks if the professor speaks fluently and clearly.
While the effort to ask this sort of question is admirable in theory, it is a token gesture; it is too little, too late. This is especially true for students whose grades have suffered because of their inability to interpret their teachers’ pseudo-English. The problem should not be addressed after class is over but before the classes begin.
The issue could be solved without the involvement of university officials. Students could try to make a better effort to communicate with professors. If they talked with their professors more, perhaps they would begin to understand them more clearly.
But there are still two problems in this practice. The first is with larger classes, where not every student gets enough time to decipher a teacher’s accent and/or jabbering English. The second problem is students are paying for their education. Therefore, they deserve to have the best teachers without needing to hire an interpreter.
In order to fix the problem, the university and individual colleges need to begin taking steps that will help bridge the communication gaps. Some cases may be solvable by simply offering courses for professors, so they can better grasp the English language. In other situations, professors may require teaching assistants who are more clearly understood to help the students learn the material for the course.
The university should continue to promote diversity to some extent; however, when this diversity begins to hinder learning, it’s a signal that the process needs to be re-analyzed and revamped to aid those who should matter most: students.
Joey Maresca is a junior in electrical and computer engineering. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].
