Anyone who's ever labored under an unintelligible TA will appreciate this article from the Arizona Daily Wildcat (U of A):
Calculus and chemistry can be difficult to understand, and for some students, having an international teaching assistant can make it even harder...While it is a university requirement that all international graduate students pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language, each department on campus hires TAs through its own screening processes.
Coordinator of laboratory instruction in ecology and evolutionary biology Susan Jorstad said a TA is hired in her department after only an informal interview. This method relies heavily on the TOEFL, which measures students’ understanding of English, but not their ability to clearly speak the language.
Angela Wray, customer service representative for TOEFL, said the Test of Spoken English, not the TOEFL, is what determines whether a student can communicate orally.
But Jodi Bunting, office specialist senior for the University Learning Center, said a mere test is unable to verify whether a graduate student has the ability to instruct in a classroom environment.
“Though it is the best test of this nature we have, as with any standardized test, the TOEFL is subjective,” she said.
A certain TOEFL score is required to get that student visa; thus, the TOEFL is very high-stakes, and very attractive to cheaters. In 2002, international students from 13 states were arrested on charges of fraudulent TOEFL behavior; they hired others to take the TOEFL for them, and risked deportation when caught.
One U of A lab supervisor requires additional speaking tests and presentation of international students, which I believe is absolutely necessary in addition to the other standardized assessments. Of course, part of the problem is the sheer volume of international students that must learn to speak English in a way that American students can follow:
Of the 50 general chemistry TAs, 40 percent are international students. Thirty-two percent of the general biology TAs and approximately 33 percent of the math TAs are also international students.
Last year, 24 percent of the approximately 7,400 graduate students at the UA were international students, according to the 2002-2003 UA Fact Book.
Posted by kswygert at February 18, 2004 05:30 PM