In the spring and fall semester, 3000 students went through Biology 211 and 212 and the labs connected to these courses. This can require a number of up to 30 teaching assistants, known to most students as TAs, involved in teaching these labs, and approximately a third of them are international students.

These graduate students are teaching in a language that is not their native language, which can in some cases be difficult to fully understand, especially in subjects like chemistry or mathematics.

Elizabeth Wells, sophomore in chemical engineering, attended a chemistry lab last semester in which she said she was confused very often.

“Our TA would sometimes have trouble understanding our questions or then answering in a way we understood,” Wells said.

In the normal class, Wells said she understood the concepts. But in the lab she had trouble following what the teaching assistant was trying to have them do.

The knowledge of material doesn’t seem to be an overall issue. A student in chemistry who wished to remain anonymous said that he could ask a really advanced chemistry question, and the teaching assistant would know the answer.

“I think they sometimes feel uncomfortable trying to explain complex things in a language that is not [their] own,” said the student.

Matthew Martinez, sophomore in electrical engineering, has experienced difficulties in his engineering labs. He said both students and the TA had trouble understanding one another.

Jonathan Wendel, distinguished professor and chair of the department of ecology, evolution and organismal biology, said that this has been an issue that has been around since the departments started to have teaching assistants who aren’t native English speakers.

It is at the discretion of the departments and sometimes even the course on how they choose their teaching assistants Wendel said.

Every international TA has to take the Oral English Certification Test, which consists of an oral proficiency section and a teaching simulation section said Linda Westgate, senior biology teaching lab coordinator.

Students attain a score that categorizes them in one of four levels, with level one being the highest.

“For Biology 211 and 212, I’ll only take those students that have achieved a level one because we have so much need of communication. Then I will personally interview them to see wether or not they can explain things on different levels,” said Westgate.

Teaching assistants should also have a background from those topics as well so that they are a good fit for the course Westgate said.

Besides taking only level one students, Westgate also has a training program for her TAs before the semester starts, and she is in frequent contact with them over the course of the semester.

“A course however that doesn’t require as much communication might accept level two students as a TA as well,” Westgate said.

The student in chemistry said that accents can be a problem with understanding, and his lab has gone slower than necessary this semester.

William Jenks, chair and professor of the chemistry department said that international graduate students applications are rigorously screened both for their academic qualifications and their English speaking abilities.

“Many, many potential students do not survive this process,” Jenks said.

Once the foreign graduate students arrive on campus they are again screened through Oral English Certification Test. When they are approved through that test, students will be place into appropriate courses. 

“Undergraduates who have trouble understanding any instructors would be surprised how amenable they can be to constructive and polite personal appeals. This might include requests to speak more slowly or more loudly or to use a microphone,” Jenks said.

If all such attempts fail Jenks said he may be able to place a student in a different section of the class.

“It is the undergraduate student’s responsibility to learn the terminology while the TAs is to communicate with the students on a different level so they can understand what they’ve been asked to do. It is a two-way process,” Westgate said.

A person’s culture can play a role as well in communication and communication problems. In some countries, it is considered rude to ask questions said Westgate.

In the training before the semester Westgate addresses these issues as well.

“We tell TAs that we want students to ask questions. That they are not being rude and that we want them to ask the students another question back to lead them to an answer,” Westgate said.