Communicate: Strategies for International Teaching Assistants

by Janice A. Smith, Colleen M. Meyers, Amy J. Burkhalter

Written for all types of ITA programs an independent study course, a brief workshop, or extensive training this versatile text provides essential information for ITAs to develop strong teaching skills that ensure effective communication in the undergraduate classroom. The authors take the perspective that incoming ITAs are responsible for their own learning and teaching style. Each of the text s ten units includes work on English proficiency, teaching skills, and cultural awareness. Each unit centers around a common rhetorical teaching task in U.S. university introducing oneself, introducing a syllabus, explaining a visual, defining a term, teaching a process, fielding questions, explaining complex topics at a basic level, presenting information over several class periods, and leading a discussion. Undergraduate textbook materials for fifteen academic fields are included in the appendix to provide ITAs with content relevant for practicing teaching and language skills. Because ITA programs vary in structure and number of training hours, the authors include a To the Instructor section, which is full of recommendations for the many ways the text can be used. Not-for-sale instructor resource material available to college and university faculty only; contact publisher directly. Titles of related interest also available from Waveland Gorsuch et al., English Communication for International Teaching Assistants, Second Edition (ISBN 9781577667766) and Nilsen-Nilsen, Pronunciation Contrasts in English, Second Edition (ISBN 9781577666417).

256 pages, Paperback

First published June 20, 2007