Foreign TAs: A Course in Communication Skills.

Abstract

Suppose that you are about to embark on an ex tended visit to a foreign country for the purpose of furthering your education. Not only are you expected to take graduate classes with the "natives" who speak the majority tongue in this culture, but you are expected to teach undergraduate "natives" in a basic course from your major area of study. Not only should you be scholastically able, but you are also expected to be an ef fective communicator in the classroom even though the students you address do not share your cultural heritage, your native language, or your views on the nature of university education. Add to your anxieties about facing these "natives" the fact that on the first day of class, your only preparation for this intercultural encounter is a handbook from your departmental ad visor entitled, "Tips for the Beginning TA." This scenario too often typifies the experience of the foreign graduate student who serves as a teaching assis tant at a U.S. college or university. This paper will report the efforts of one university to begin to meet the communicative needs of foreign TAs. We will sketch the history and approach of an experimental course at the University of California, Davis entitled Rhetoric 298, "Teaching Practicum for Foreign Students."