When precepts begin next week, students might find fewer teaching assistants struggling to communicate their ideas clearly. Tougher guidelines for testing the English skills of new international graduate students have prevented many from teaching this fall.
But while this change stands to benefit undergraduates, some graduate students said the tougher guidelines regulating who is allowed to teach are hindering their own study plans.
The regulations that determine when a graduate student will be allowed to teach were changed last year by a committee of faculty and students. The committee raised the passing score on the language proficiency test administered to new non-native-English-speaking graduate students.
After taking the test in August, the graduate students were required to take a three-week American culture and teaching course. But those who did not pass the English test also were required to take an English course before they would be allowed to teach, explained Miki Mendelsohn, coordinator of the program.
Molecular biology graduate student Moshe Pritsker said he is frustrated with the tougher guidelines.
"The whole idea seemed to be a little strange to me," he said. "To make it an obligation to study English will slow down my development of research. I should be studying courses I need to study for my profession."
Computer science graduate student Junwen Lai did not receive a passing score on the English test he took in August and is thus not allowed to teach precepts this semester.
As a result, he will have to find other means of earning money so he can continue his studies. "I will get other support — a fellowship or a work as a research assistant," he said.
Pritsker said he believes it is unfair that only international students were required to take the course when the lessons about teaching methods could have benefitted anyone.
"To make foreigners an exclusive group — I didn't like the idea," he said.
But Mendelsohn emphasized that the program was designed to help students improve their English while also educating them about teaching methods and American culture. "It just gives them a jump start," he said. "They're more prepared to go into the classroom."
Mendelsohn also noted that the idea of the graduate student workshops is not completely new. "We've had a similar type program for about nine years, but the testing policy was different. It was easier to get out of having to participate in the program," Mendelsohn said. "Now we're requiring everyone to come."
Physics graduate student Weining Man said she benefitted from being forced to use her English during the course.
"My ability to read and write English is very nice, but my problem is my ability of speaking English is really poor," she said. "During the three weeks we tried to talk to each other in English. That's the most useful way, because practice makes perfect."
As part of the orientation program, the graduate students also studied different teaching styles and ways of communicating with students, which often differ between cultures, Mendelsohn said.
"It's a preparation for teaching," she said. "In their countries the requirements for instructors are completely different."
Lai said he appreciated learning ways to communicate with both students and other faculty. "We were asked to do a lot of presentations, which I think were very helpful," he said.
"Communication is very important for researchers. Now I can give a presentation publicly, although not fluently," Lai said. "I think it will be a good opportunity for me to take an English course, for me to practice my English and quickly get accustomed to life here."
Pritsker said he enjoyed meeting other students in the course and becoming acquainted with his surroundings before classes started.
"I feel I am more prepared — how to buy food, rent an apartment," he said. "So it's good when people come a few weeks before, to have this time to get used to things."
Lai also said he is now more confident about starting graduate school in a foreign country. "I am very excited to have the opportunity to study in this world-famous university. I don't feel even a bit of nervous, since I am also an excellent student. I can handle most things," he said.
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