International teaching assistants (ITAs) are found in nearly every department on campus. If an undergraduate has taken a math, science or economics course, chances are he or she has had an ITA.

“I’d say they make up one-fifth of the grad students here,” said Susan Sarwark, director of the Spoken English Program. Sarwark said the program has a difficult task.

The Spoken English Program was created in 1986 when a law passed stating that all teaching assistants must be proficient in English and that a program must be developed to help TAs learn the language. In order to attend OSU a foreign student must pass the “Test of English as a Foreign Language” exam. But in the past, this exam has had one major problem. And that is where the Spoken English Program comes in.

“When foreign students come here, they know the grammar and they can read and write English perfectly,” Sarwark said. “But they can’t speak it. And if they don’t practice speaking it, they can’t be fluent in it and their pronunciation is different.”

The first step for international graduate students is the SPEAK test, which is primarily used as a placement test. According to the Spoken English Program website, approximately 600 SPEAK tests are given each year. Depending on results, the students may place into an English 104 or 105 class.

According to the English 104 syllabus, language, oral comprehension, public speaking and culture are the main topics covered. Much of the class is based on both listening exams and exercises, all trying to strengthen fluency and pronunciation. Of those four topics, pronunciation is perhaps the largest hurdle for ITAs.

“Pronunciation can be difficult for them,” Sarwark said. “In our normal speech, we blend together certain sounds. Like the sentence, ‘Did he do that?’ We would say it ‘Dee do that?’. For many of these students, they’re like, ‘What’s a dee?’ So it’s difficult for them.”

If students pass the English 105 course the final step is a Mock Teaching test, during which students present a 12 minute assigned lesson to a panel of raters. Grading is based on spoken proficiency, listening comprehension, presentation skills and interaction skills. If they prove they can communicate in a classroom situation they pass the test. If the student passes the Mock Teaching test, he or she can become a TA in their department. The entire process from SPEAK test to the Mock Teaching test isn’t finished in a set period of time.

“Some students are done in one quarter where others have been here for several quarters,” Sarwark said.

Hui Song is in her second year in graduate school here at OSU. Song, who is from China, has completed the program and is now a mathematics TA.

“The program helps me a lot, especially in oral and communication skills,” Song said. “It provides the stage for us to practice.”

While this program does seem successful, Sarwark said that there can still be problems with ITAs and their abilities to communicate with their students.

“Many times an ITA may have finals or other exams and there may be a decline in their teaching,” Sarwark said. Sarwark encourages students experiencing problems such as this to talk to their TA.

If that doesn’t help, Sarwark wants students to contact her and explain the situation.

“We archive the video tapes of the Mock Teaching test for six years in case a problem arises,” Sarwark said. “If there is a problem we can talk with the ITA and review their tapes to see what the problem is.”

Megan Schwartz, a sophomore in rad tech, has had three ITAs in her two years at OSU.

“The first one I had, I had some problems with. She was difficult to understand at times,” Schwartz said. “The other two I had were great. Both seemed to make sure we understood concepts more so than any other teaching assistant I’ve ever had.”

Sarwark said input from undergraduate students is needed. There are two different ways to help, both of which are listed in detail on the Spoken English Program Web site at www.esl.osu.edu.

One way is to attend international teaching assistant’s practice teachings and ask questions related to the subject matter. Another way is to attend an undergraduate panel. Once on the panel, prospective ITAs will have the chance to ask the panel about their interests and experiences. All of this is done to help international students with their speaking skills. With this system in place Sarwark said the number of complaints about ITAs have dropped considerably. Sarwark said the last complaint about an ITA was made in Autumn quarter of 2004.