What the analytic versus holistic scoring of international teaching assistants can reveal: Lexical grammar matters

Second-language (L2) testing researchers have explored the relationship between speakers’ overall speaking ability, reflected by holistic scores, and the speakers’ performance on speaking subcomponents, reflected by analytic scores (e.g., McNamara, 1990; Sato, 2011). These research studies have advanced applied linguists’ understanding of how raters view the components of effective speaking skills, but the authors of the studies either used analytic composite scores, instead of true holistic ratings, or ran regression analyses with highly correlated subscores, which is problematic. To address these issues, 10 experienced ITA raters rated the speaking of 127 international teaching assistant (ITA) candidates using a four-component analytic rubric. In addition, holistic ratings were provided for the 127 test takers from a separate (earlier) scoring by two experienced ITA raters. The two types of scores differentiated examinees in similar ways. The variability observed in students’ holistic scores was reflected in their analytic scores. However, among the four analytic subscales, examinees’ scores on Lexical and Grammatical Competence had the greatest differentiating power. Its scores indicated with a high level of accuracy who passed the test and who did not. The paper discusses the components contributing to ITAs’ L2 oral speaking proficiency, and reviews pedagogical implications.

An Intersectional Analysis of the English-Competency Experiences of International Teaching Assistants

International graduate students serving as teaching assistants constitute a major component of the teaching of undergraduate students at US universities, particularly in engineering. Prior literature on these international teaching assistants (ITAs) generally characterizes their linguistic experiences as challenges. This characterization can be attributed to an institutional environment that is reluctant to accommodate diverse ways of speaking English. This study applies an intersectionality framework to explore the variations in ITAs’ English-language experiences and the influence of the academic context on these experiences using semi-structured interviews and weekly reflections collected from seven engineering ITAs over a semester. Results of data analysis suggest that ITAs’ English proficiency varies based on their prior exposure to English in their home countries, and their English competence improves through their teaching experiences in the US. Participants’ experiences also highlight a perceived expectation to not only use English while teaching but also adapt to American English.

Remote International Student to Remote Teacher

The aim of this chapter is to reflect on the experience of designing teaching and learning training for international graduate student teaching assistants (ITAs) during the pandemic, which caused a move to remote teaching. This chapter is particularly important for educational researchers who have an interest in supporting international teaching assistants as well as domestic teaching assistants. The chapter is divided into five sections. In the first section the authors describe their background and previous experience and their aim for designing the training itself. The authors will include the training design in the second section. The third section will lay out the challenges that the authors identified. The fourth section will contain the lessons learned from this experience and the resulting best practices. Finally, the fifth section will include the future directions.

Teaching and Learning Professional Development for International Graduate Students

In this chapter, Bakhtin's metatheoretical framework of dialogism is offered as a frame in which to consider the work of Centres for Teaching and Learning (CTLs) on university campuses. Dialogism keeps front and centre the co-construction of student learning and teaching and the ways in which international graduate students' knowledges and experiences enhance and inform university teaching and learning. The chapter outlines CTL professional development activities that support the scholarship of international teaching assistants (ITAs). A discussion of the differences and tensions between learning a language and using language to learn is offered. CTLs are often seen as sites for instrumental and pragmatic instructional purposes, rather than the sites where ITAs are invited into the teaching and learning scholarly community; this later idea will be highlighted throughout.