The Department of Applied Linguistics offers three 3-credit courses specifically for International Teaching Assistants (ITAs). Students who need to improve their speaking and presentation skills can enroll in the following courses according to the results of the American English Oral Communicative Proficiency Test (AEOCPT) administered by the department.
Note: Students will not be permitted to register for these courses unless they have taken the AEOCPT.
Course Descriptions
ESL 115G American Oral English for ITAs I
Prerequisite: score below 150 on the AEOCPT
This course is designed for low-intermediate non-native speakers of English who need to improve their overall speaking and listening skills in English in preparation for positions as teaching assistants (TAs) in their departments. Through various oral and aural language activities, students will increase the intelligibility of their speech by improving their pronunciation of American English. They will also develop academic speaking skills in order to engage critically and constructively in the exchange of ideas during discussions of academic content. They will improve their overall listening comprehension, as well as their discrimination of particular sounds in English. By the end of this course, students will have improved their overall speaking and listening skills, in particular their fluency, to participate successfully in academic settings.
ESL 117G American Oral English for ITAs II
Prerequisite: score of 150-199 on the AEOCPT
This course is designed for intermediate level non-native speakers of English who need to improve their communication effectiveness in order to become teaching assistants (TAs). Through various language related activities students will increase their vocabulary and develop their fluency; improve listening comprehension; develop an awareness of their communication priorities and an ability to self-monitor and correct; develop oral skills necessary for leading and participating in discussions; and develop basic presentation skills.
ESL 118G American Oral English for ITAs III
Prerequisite: score of 200-249 on the AEOCPT
This course is designed to provide English language instructional support for advanced non-native speakers of English who need to improve their communication effectiveness in order to become teaching assistants (TAs). Through various language related activities, students will increase the intelligibility of their speech by improving their pronunciation of American English. To do this, they will develop an acute awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses as a communicator in real and simulated instructional contexts. They will also develop effective oral communication strategies necessary for interaction with individual students, small groups, and large classes. Students will learn about American cultural traits and underlying assumptions as they pertain to communication in the university-level classroom. By the end of this course, students will have improved their overall communication effectiveness to carry out their future teaching assistants responsibilities successfully.
Interactive Performance Test (IPT)
Students enrolled in ESL 118G must take and pass an Interactive Performance Test (IPT) upon completion of coursework before they are allowed to assume teaching responsibilities. The IPT is an oral language exam which evaluates the student’s overall comprehensibility and communicative effectiveness in an academic setting. Depending on the student’s performance on the IPT, the following recommendations are given:
- Pass: no restrictions on teaching.
- Fail: repeat ESL 118 course.
For more information about the ITA program, please contact the Director, Stephen Looney, sdl16@psu.edu.