Dr. Ghislaine Kozuh
Former ITA Program Coordinator
So you want to become fluent in English, but don't know how?
By focusing on the professor's intonation and organization markers in your classes, you will understand the relative importance of the material covered then you can study accordinglysaving yourself from covering all of the material with equal intensity.
Become informed on campus life, local and national issues. This will allow you to join in social interactions and small talk. That's where you find out what's really going on in your department.
Talk to yourself, rehearsing conversations and explanations you might need to do. Play back in your mind language that you just heard, mimicking intonation, stress and rate of speech. This will help you to think in English, improve your fluency and reduce your anxiety about speaking English.
Join a sports or recreational group on field-trips on weekends and holidays. By totally immersing yourself in the language, you will soon notice improvement and perhaps get some much needed rest and change of pace.
If you can't invest time on improving your English, you will not make significant progress no matter how long you are in this country; communication is a skill much like swimmingif you don't get into the water and actually swim, your swimming will not improve.
Ask a native speaker to tape-record the pronunciation of key terms in your field; then work on the tape at home.
When you don't understand certain expressions or slang in conversations, say "I didn't catch that, what does it mean?" People will be happy to explain it to you.
To get the most out of your study in the U.S., you should try to investigate how the system works here, what people think, and why they react the way they do.
If you are too busy studying and TA-ing to make contact with your surroundings, it may be that you are not working efficiently because: (1) you have not understood the relative importance of the material; (2) you are memorizing material or studying it literally because you are afraid your language skills are not adequate to express ideas in your own words; (3) you are doing more than your share of TA-work because you do not have the communication skills to negotiate an equitable work-load with your professor.
ITAs share helpful strategies
Join in class discussions no matter how intimidated you feel
I learned to interrupt a discussion by saying, "Excuse me, do you mean . . . , or "I can't follow you, would you explain that in another way?"
Pay attention to the language and customs; when in Rome, do as the Romans . . .
I feel everybody is closer to me when I use the right phrases during conversation. I have started to pick up expressions frequently used by students, such as: "kinda like," "stuff like that," "piece of cake." That's how I began to understand the daily life in this country.
Try to mix with Americans so you can get more chances to practice English
My colleagues are interested in cross-cultural differences. They like to hear about the ancient idioms still being used by the Chinese people when teasing and educating others.
You don't have to change your identity to fit in
Sometimes I forget I am a foreigner depending on the situation; when I discusss my experiments with my colleagues, I never think of my identity. On the other hand, in some social circumstances I can never forget I am foreign.
Don't worry too much about making mistakes
If you are too sensitive about making mistakes and trying to convey information perfectly, most likely your efforts will only frustrate your partner in conversation.
Ask native speakers to help you
Today, in our lab we happened to talk about our English speaking ability. The supervisor and the technician, native speakers, agreed to pay more attention to our problems in spoken English. I felt this could complement the class because we had lots more contact compared with the class and also the topics varied extensively and were more spontaneous.
Pay attention to your mistakes but do not overmonitor
It is better to focus on one or two typical mistakes in a period of time. When I only concentrate on one or two problems I am not troubled by other problems and do not lose fluency.
Research on the Characteristics of Successful TAs & ITAs
(adapted from Rosslyn Smith, et al.,
Crossing Pedagogical Oceans: International Teaching Assistants in U.S. Undergraduate
Education.
Report Eight-1992: ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Reports)
Copyright 2004
The University of Texas at Austin
International Teaching Assistant Program
SHC 339, Campus Mail Code A-7000
Phone 512-471-2482
e-mail address itaprog@www.utexas.edu
Web site http://ita.io.utexas.edu/