English Communication for International Teaching Assistants

In order to become successful communicators in undergraduate teaching environments in the United States, nonnative English speaking graduate students require hands-on and relevant practice. Now in its second edition, English Communication for International Teaching Assistants continues to provide constructive insights and versatile tools to facilitate such learning. The authors convey the principals of cross-cultural awareness within the classroom and emphasize the importance of discourse intonation in building rapport, conveying meaning, and structuring information. The accompanying CD includes audio and video recordings of real teaching settings that can be examined and dissected for successful discourse intonation practices. Dozens of applied exercises, interactive tasks, and skills-building problems address communication proficiencies and deficiencies. Readers will transcribe and evaluate their own conversations in order to acquire strategies to become more effective speakers and to resolve communication breakdowns with undergraduate students. As a valuable tool, the ITA Performance Test is included, along with its developmental theory and guidelines for its use.