The balanced equation to training chemistry ITAs

Empirical profiles of academic oral English proficiency from an international teaching assistant screening test

“…A large number of ITA training programs began with an emphasis on pronunciation, especially on accent reduction at the individual phoneme level (Bauer & Tanner, 1994; Kaplan, 1989; Smith, Byrd, Nelson, Barret, & Constantinides, 1992). As researchers realized that accent reduction at the segmental level alone could not guarantee satisfying results (e.g., Derwing, 2008), ITA training programs have diversified to include other components of oral English proficiency into their curricula, such as suprasegmental features (e.g., Anderson-Hsieh, 1990), vocabulary use (e.g., Rubin, 1993; Tanner, Selfe, & Wiegand, 1993; vom Saal, Miles, & McGraw, 1988) and pragmatic knowledge (e.g., Davies, Tyler, & Koran, 2002; Jenkins, 1997). Some programs have further expanded to address non-linguistic components, including American cultural knowledge (e.g., Althen, 1991) and familiarity with the daily lives of typical undergraduate students (e.g., Jia & Bergerson, 2008).…”

International Teaching Assistants and the Essence of the Development of Intercultural Competence

“…The literature on ITAs widely recognizes that language, pedagogy, and culture are essential components of effective training programs for ITAs (Althen, 1991;Bailey, 1984;Finder, 2005;Gravois, 2005;Hoekje & Williams, 1992;King, 1998;Smith et al, 1992); however, the predominant focus in the literature on ITAs addresses issues of pronunciation and intelligibility (Dick & Robinson, 1993;Morley, 1991;Pickering, 2001;Thomas & Monoson, 1993;Tyler, 1992;Williams, 1992), pedagogical effectiveness (Luo, Grady, & Bellows, 2001;Ross & Krider, 1992;Twale, Shannon, & Moore, 1997), undergraduate student perspectives (Kavas & Kavas, 2008;Plakans, 1997;Rao, 1995;Rubin, 1992;Smyrniou, 1994;Twale, Shannon, & Moore, 1997;Yook & Albert, 1999), and various aspects of assessment and training for ITAs Fleisher, Hashimoto, & Weinberg, 2002;Halleck & Moder, 1995;Hoekje & Linnell, 1994;Hoekje & Williams, 1992;Jenkins & Parra, 2003;Rubin, 1993;Tanner, Selfe, & Wiegand, 1993). Few studies specifically address the role of culture in the assessment and training of ITAs (Hill & Lakey, 1995;Chen, 2005;Luo, Grady, & Bellows, 2001;Smith, 1993), and even fewer studies focus on what we can learn directly from ITAs themselves…”

“…A direct result of the adoption of these policies was the development of training programs for ITAs to strengthen the quality of classroom instruction (Dick & Robinson, 1993;King, 1998;Thomas & Monoson, 1993), which also resulted in numerous studies and publications investigating best practices of ITA training and effective methods of assessment Fleisher, Hashimoto, & Weinberg, 2002;Halleck & Moder, 1995;Hoekje & Linnell, 1994;Hoekje & Williams, 1992;Jenkins & Parra, 2003;Rubin, 1993;Tanner, Selfe, & Wiegand, 1993).…”

“…Program content has shifted from initially being language-focused to now being communication-focused (Rubin, 1993). Some advocate for an increase in discipline-specific training for ITAs that can more intentionally address vocabulary, content, culture, and procedures unique to the culture and focus of a specific academic discipline (Smith, 1994;Tanner, Selfe, & Wiegand, 1993). These changes have been helpful, but they still do not place a strong enough priority and emphasis on providing training in intercultural competence, which promotes successful intercultural interactions in diverse university settings.…”

Identifying pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in the chemistry laboratory

“…Thus, modeling of PChK-1 on past laboratory educational experiences when they were UGs may account for the ease of GTAs' understanding and the frequency of exercising PChK-1 interactions. Evidence supporting this claim is that international GTAs, who often have strong theoretical knowledge but less UG laboratory experience (Tanner et al, 1993), have more difficulty acquiring PChK-1 than domestic GTAs (Bond-Robinson and Rodriques, In press). The UGs' and instructors' ratings indicated that the most complicated and difficult aspect of PChK-1 to execute effectively was preparation and delivery of an appropriate talk.…”