| indexINTERNATIONAL TEACHING ASSISTANTS
The University of Victoria welcomes graduate students from around the world. Of the 2200graduate students on campus, over 250 are international graduate students, representing 48 different countries. Part of the international graduate student role may be as a teaching assistant or marker, and this role can create additional challenges. In addition to possible language and cultural differences, there are also often differences in the educational systems, teaching methods and conduct for students and teachers in various countries.
UVic's International & Exchange Student Services offers a wide range of programs and support services to international students, and their International Student Handbook is a valuable source of information on adjusting to life in Victoria and at UVic. Patricia Brooke, the Coordinator of Special Student Programs, is located in the Campus Services Building, Room B133. There are a number of programs and clubs for international students, including the host family program and the Association of Foreign and Canadian studentsa student-run club working to ease the sense of isolation many international students face.
The English Language Centre has created a program especially designed for graduate students facing language and communication challenges. This is a ten-week program run twice a year, each accommodating up to fifteen students. Its main focus is in speaking and listening skills. Students are recommended by their student advisor. Early in the program, usually during the second class, students are videotaped. After viewing the tape, students discuss their concerns with the teacher and together decide what points to work on. This is particularly useful for international students acting as TAs. Although the program focuses primarily on language skills, it also offers cross-cultural training and orientation in the culture of the classroom and research lab. Without being acculturated to classroom behaviour and the expectations of professors and undergraduate students, international TAs shoulder a disadvantage beyond any language problems they might have.
Orientation programs for international students are offered in September/October by Student and Ancillary Services. Check for dates in the International Student Handbook. The Learning and Teaching Centre and the Faculty of Graduate Studies offer a TA training day in September. Please check with the Learning and Teaching Centre for details and dates.
Following are some suggestions that might help you adjust to the Canadian teaching situation.
BE PREPARED AND PRACTICE
While you may feel initially uneasy about going into a class whose students speak another language and have a different culture, if you know your material, understand what you want your students to learn, and have prepared yourself before class, you will be less anxious. Although your oral language proficiency may not be the same as your Canadian counterpart, this disadvantage can be overcome or compensated for by good preparation and practicethese are the best and most important confidence builders. There will occasionally be misunderstandings with professors and undergraduate students. Don't take these problems as personal failures but as part of the culture-learning process.
As a TA you must have a thorough knowledge of your subject matter, but you must also be able to explain it in a clear, coherent and well-organized way. Good preparation and practice can solve many problems.
· KNOW what material is to be covered
- write it out in outline form or in detail for in-class reference
- provide your own examples and comments.
· KNOW roughly how long the material will take to cover. Always prepare more than what you think will be needed.
· PREPARE handouts, or write on the blackboard ahead of time, technical or complex terms or issues.
· AVOID using words or terms that you find hard to pronounce. If you are unsure of pronunciation, check with a peer before class.
· REHEARSE, especially for the first class. You may not need to practice after this.
FAMILIARISE YOURSELF with Canadian classroom culture as much as possible. Be yourself, but it is not constructive to let your students feel that you are less than a capable TA because you are an international student.
TEACHING TIPS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
1. Teacher and student behaviour in the classroom is culturally influenced; be aware of your posture and body movements, make eye contact, smile, gesture. Treat your students with respect. These are important aspects of teaching and influence the way students learn and how they think of you.
2. To check on your progress, you may want to ask one or two thoughtful members of your class for feedback. Ask whether your instruction was clear and comprehensible. Ask what you could have done differently.
3. If you feel comfortable, you may want to tell your class something about yourself and ask them to talk for a minute about themselves: what year they are in, what is their major, and what they hope to get out of this class.
4. Stay for a few minutes after class and invite students to talk to you about any problems they encountered.
5. Try to be the kind of teacher you enjoyed as a student: friendly, helpful, honest and understanding, while being consistent and confident. Admit when you are uncertain and demonstrate an openness and willingness to learn from others.
6. Be particularly careful about your pronunciation, enunciation and rapidity of speech.
7. Learn your students' names and how to pronounce them as quickly as possible.
Communicating Without Words
These tips are adapted (with permission) from Connie Van Zelm's essay in The Foreign TA: A Guide to Teaching Effectiveness, Handbook of State University of New York at Buffalo, 1988.
1. Become an actor. Great skill is not necessary, just a little boldness. If there's a key word you don't know in English, use your hands, body and facial expressions to act it out. Don't be afraid of acting silly or looking funny. Do whatever you need to do to get your point across and learn to laugh with the students. For example, try using your hands to demonstrate the difference between "fission" and "fusion." Your students will appreciate your efforts and enthusiasm.
2. Use a chalkboard (or a piece of paper) continuallywhether you are dealing with one student or a whole class. Write down the key words you use as you talk about them, and draw a simple picture, map, or diagram of what you are talking about. You can usually sketch examples of what you mean.
3. If you are afraid that someone misunderstands you, draw a picture of what you don't want the students to do or think, and then draw a big "X" through it to show that's not what you're talking about.
4. When you give instructions for a lab, go through the motions of the lab while you are explaining itand then do it again, more quickly, to make sure everyone understands.
5. If you don't know the English word for something, but you manage to get the idea across and the students don't know the English word either, teach them the word in your language. Afterwards, pause whenever you use it, to make sure they remember what it means. Learning a few words in another language never hurt anybody, right? Tell them the correct English word in the next class.
6. Instead of explaining a formula or an equation, SHOW how it works, and if the students don't catch on (understand) the first time, show them again...and again, and AGAIN. Teaching takes patience.
7. Be creative. Visual aids aren't just for children; good language teachers use them all the time, and if you're trying to explain chemistry or physics, you are teaching another language! Have models available whenever you can, and consider using the students themselves to model how something works.
8. As a TA, don't think of yourself as a person with authority over your studentseven if you have some. Try to think of yourself as a helper and friend. If you are willing to step out of your shyness and do all you can do to communicate with them, they will really appreciate it, no matter how good or bad your English is.
A good philosophy to remember is, who cares how you say it, as long as you communicate.