Introduction

It’s no secret that ITAs are under pressure. Aside from the demands that come from living in a different country and working on their graduate studies, many ITAs must also take English courses to improve their oral communication skills so that they can teach, perhaps for the first time. I have taught Classroom Communication Skills for ITAs for the past 7 years, and I have noticed that many international graduate students seem either unwilling or unable to put forth the necessary effort to improve their spoken English. It is my job to implement ways to make their paths towards improved intelligibility easier to walk. But the ITAs must first decide to travel that path. In 2012, I interviewed several former students about their experiences in the ITA preparation course. Many of them could pinpoint when and how their attitudes towards the class changed. In this article, I will highlight five types of comments, and discuss how to apply students’ newfound motivation in class to encourage others to take that first step.

Polly and Mei: Realizing Why They Needed to Take the Class

For Polly and Mei, the news that they did not meet the required level of proficiency to TA as determined by the SPEAK Test was baffling. Both had been in the United States for more than a year, and thought that when compared with many of their Chinese classmates, they had little trouble making themselves understood.The turning point came when they were listening to their first audio journal. Polly noticed her awkward pauses and incomplete sentences. Mei noticed that her speech was choppy and her intonation was flat. Their realization combined with my suggestions about pronunciation targets helped them to see the benefit of their work in the class.

Audio journals are 2–3 minute spontaneous speech samples recorded during class. Afterwards, students transcribe their own speech, and comment on what they did well and on what they felt they needed to improve in terms of pronunciation. From these transcriptions, I developed a list of targets. For Polly, the targets were fluency and thought group division; for Mei, we focused on linking, intonation variation, and phrasal stress. Transcribing their own speech helps ITAs understand what obstacles are in their paths, and it also helps with self-monitoring—a skill that can help the ITA outside of the oral communication classroom (Gorsuch, Meyers, Pickering, & Griffee, 2013). Coursework, pronunciation tutoring, and working with practice software such as Native Accent can all help ITAs overcome pronunciation obstacles.

Sting: "Pronunciation is a Wheel on the Car"

Another student, Sting, began learning English at the age of 4 in India, and he had an extensive vocabulary. His advisor pointed out to him that when he became excited about a topic, his speech rate quickened beyond listeners’ abilities to comprehend. Although his passion for the topics he taught was an asset, his students would have a difficult time understanding him. Sting paid attention to his speed, and began to notice this about himself; he took it seriously because he knew that he would more easily acclimatize to college life if those around him could understand him. After the first ITA preparation class, he realized that he “definitely [could] improve [his] existing communication skills.” He described pronunciation as a wheel on the car of communication, and added, “No matter how expensive [a] car you’re driving, if the wheels are flat, then there’s a problem.”

Helping ITAs see the interpersonal benefits of being understood could very well be a motivating factor for those who are eager to make friends, network with colleagues, teach students, and conduct daily affairs. Being able to communicate well takes much of the stress away from everyday situations, thus making the path easier to traverse.

Isaac and Maryam: For the Sake of Their Students

Maryam and Isaac were language TAs from Ghana; Maryam taught Akan and Isaac taught Spanish. For both of them, their students were the guiding light along the path. Although Maryam and Isaac taught in the target language, ITAs must be able to communicate with their students in English during office hours. Isaac explained his motivation as follows: “I always wanted to be a teacher, and I’ve always loved my students… I didn’t want the situation where [my pronunciation] stops them from understanding whatever is going on.” He decided he would work to become more intelligible to his students’ ears.

Maryam also cared deeply about her students and their ability to understand her, but she had an unnerving experience in class that pushed her into action. During pair work, she overheard one student tell another to do something; “otherwise, Maryam will yell at you.” As an even-tempered person, she didn’t know what this student meant, since she thought yelling was synonymous with high-volume screaming. In the ITA preparation class, she learned that repeated falling tones can come across as ordering someone around, and that articulating these words sharply in combination with that falling pitch pattern can come across negatively. It was at this point she became frightened and worried that “if [she] continued with this kind of accent, maybe at some point [she would] be in trouble unconsciously, and …[would] be called to meet a superior.” She continued, “I wouldn’t even be aware of what they were talking about, when it happened, and how it ended.”

Both Maryam and Isaac’s examples illustrate the concern that many ITAs have for their students and the desire to communicate clearly with them. Moreover, many of the techniques used, such as making and analyzing student recordings, could be applied to their own language teaching. For Maryam, this was another important source of motivation for her to “sit up” and take notice in class.

Jon and Polly: ITA Friends as Guides

Jon, an Indian student, and Polly, a student from China, benefitted by having their own personal guides, friends of theirs who had successfully adjusted their accents for American ears. Jon met someone who not only had studied in the same department, but was also from his hometown in India and had taken the ITA preparation class the previous year. This friend served as an excellent model for Jon and helped him to become aware of when he spoke with a strong Indian accent, and how to speak so that Americans could understand. Here is Jon’s description:

It would happen all the time. We will just be sitting in the cafeteria or some place…and then all of a sudden we would start joking about something. Then I would start saying something and the other American guys saying “We [didn’t] get a word of it.” [My friend] would reply to what I said, but he would say it [in] an American accent…. So I would immediately get the difference. … [W]hen that happens twice or thrice, or the next day it happens, I start following the same way.

One of Polly’s classmates with whom she met on a regular basis repeated the ITA preparation class several times before she could reach the required level of proficiency on> the SPEAK Test. She therefore urged Polly to take the class and the SPEAK Test seriously. When I asked Polly if her attitude would have been the same had her friend said nothing, she replied “I probably [would have worked] not as hard. I mean, I probably would just be kind of sloppy and loose.” 

Sanu: Appreciated the Advice of the Teacher in a Credit/Fail Course

The ITA preparation course is a credit/fail course: if ITAs earn an 80% or higher, they will get credit, and lower than that will result in an F. After the first several weeks, if I noticed students were not doing the kind of work required to be successful in the course, I sent out warnings to inform them that they were in danger of earning a failing grade if they did not adjust their approach to the course work appropriately. I then clarified the course requirements and assignments, and advised them on anything that could be made up. For two students, this was the push they needed in order to stay on the path laid out for them in the form of the syllabus and schedule. Sanu noted, “After I got the e-mail from you, I [did]… things [on] time, properly. So it improved me, too.”

Conclusion

Whether the path is straight or curved, ITAs should walk the path to improve their oral communication skills. They need to find the courage and motivation to do this despite the other pressures they face. As teachers, our responsibility is to make that path as clear as possible through the information and practice we provide. We can also provide signs along the way to help students better understand and get over their own obstacles, and let them know if they have fallen behind. By getting to know the ITAs individually, and finding out what drives them to succeed, teachers can give them the tools and opportunities that will help them along the way.

Reference

Gorsuch, G., Meyers, C. M., Pickering, L., & Griffee, D. T. (2013). English communication for international teaching assistants (2nd ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.

Lara Wallace, a lecturer and the ELIP pronunciation lab coordinator in Ohio University’s Department of Linguistics, is a PhD candidate in cultural studies of education at Ohio University. Her research interests include ITAs, pronunciation, oral communication, and computer assisted language learning. She is investigating the ITA experience in the oral communication classroom.