The View From Both Sides Of The Desk


by Anne Dolan
The way she saw it, Elena Dneprovskaia had two strikes 
against her: she was teaching in her second language and some 
of her chemistry students were considerably older than she. 
But Dneprovskaia, who comes from a small city 60 miles east 
of Moscow, said she recognized that teaching assistantships 
are "a rule of graduate school" and hoped to make the best of 
the opportunity.

"I know I can explain it better in my own language. It annoys 
me," she said. "But my students really want to learn and I 
want to help them."

Dneprovskaia leads two lab sections for the chemistry 
department this semester and is one of about 240 
international teaching assistants - about a third of all TAs 
 - whose efforts ease the demand for more faculty at Iowa 
State. In some departments -  math, chemistry and computer 
science, for example -  international TAs account for 50 
percent or more of the total TA corps.

In addition to communicating full-time in a non-native 
language, international TAs are adjusting to a new culture 
and juggling the demands of being both teacher and student. 

At the same time, the undergraduates TAs are charged with 
leading face their own adjustments. They are meeting new 
people and cultures, studying harder and longer than they 
previously thought possible, and perhaps juggling school and 
part-time work to pay tuition bills.

The mix can be dynamic or it can be something considerably 
less desirable. Most, on both sides of the classroom, agree 
that an open mind and flexible attitude help.

Senior management major Anne Van Lew ticks off words like "on 
time," and "very helpful" and "always keep their office 
hours" when reflecting on her experiences with international 
TAs. 

One of Van Lew's few frustrations was timidity among some. "I 
think they were apprehensive about embellishing what the 
professor had given us. The (international) TAs didn't 
present any new material in the recitations," she recalled.

On the other hand, senior John Connor, a civil engineering 
student who has had more than 10 international TAs at ISU, 
said he has been most frustrated by TAs whose "selected" 
course content appears only minimally on course-wide exams.


OPENING SODAS, CHEWING CHIPS

Connor also said he thinks too many international TAs expect 
American classrooms to mirror those in their home countries. 
International TAs would be the first to admit that the 
relaxed American classroom takes some getting used to.

Washington Braida is pursuing a Ph.D. from Iowa State in 
environmental engineering and is the TA for several sections 
of an entry-level civil engineering course. His undergraduate 
experience was at a strict and challenging university in 
military-ruled Uruguay. He perhaps is entitled to a little 
culture shock every time he hears a student in his class 
"opening a soda or chewing chips."

"I first think, 'No, no,'" Braida said. "But then I have to 
remind myself, 'It's not bad. It's just different.'"

Dneprovskaia said she, too, gets frustrated by different 
"rules" in the U.S. classroom. Her biggest complaint? "Nobody 
pushes (students) to think about what they are doing (in a 
chemistry lab) or why they are doing it. I'm trying to find 
out if they're really learning."

Chin Kooi "Jerry" Lim, a seven-year TA veteran from Malaysia, 
said adjusting to the American educational system is crucial 
to succeeding as a TA. While he "didn't quite have stage 
fright," he was nervous before teaching his first lab session 
in 1988.

He said he has a different perspective on teaching now and 
has grown to like it so well that his career goal no longer 
is in research but in the classroom.

"I encourage a lot of interaction. In a situation where 
you're trying to make someone learn, that interaction has to 
be there. I make them aware I'm accessible," Lim said, 
sounding more like an education major than a mechanical 
engineering doctoral candidate.


THE LANGUAGE BARRIER

Many undergraduates, particularly those with scant exposure 
to other cultures, say they simply can't understand what 
their international TAs are saying or complain that the TAs 
don't understand questions asked of them.

Junior biology major Molly Ryan said learning the concepts 
sometimes becomes a secondary goal, behind adjusting to an 
international TA's accented English.

"It seems either they're real good or real bad," said James 
Kramer, a sophomore in animal science, adding that sometimes 
he and his classmates don't agree on what defines good. "A 
lot of the guys complained about a TA we had last year 
because they couldn't understand him, but I did OK with him."

Industrial engineering senior Kristy Devlin said that as a 
freshman, she was frustrated by communication problems with 
international TAs. "The bad ones were hard to understand and 
subsequently, not very dynamic speakers. They didn't motivate 
you to learn. But," she added, "I've had American teachers 
like that."

Eight international TAs later, Devlin said she has overcome 
the language barrier and early frustrations and now judges 
international TAs on what kind of teachers they are trying to 
be -  not what country they are from. 

Interestingly, international TAs score higher marks from 
students in courses like sociology or anthropology, in which 
they can bring a non-Iowa perspective to the discussion. In 
some such classes, language barriers seem overshadowed by 
what international TAs have to say.


MAKING ADJUSTMENTS

Although ISU officials encourage students to talk to teaching 
assistants or faculty supervisors when they are having 
communication problems, few do so. Most students say they 
simply learn the class material on their own.

Kramer said he takes more responsibility for his education if 
he has difficulty understanding an international TA. His 
study groups are more productive, he's more likely to read, 
and even re-read, the textbook and he goes to recitation 
sessions better prepared for quizzes.

"If you know that your TA can't explain things clearly, 
you'll know the material going in," Kramer said.

Connor agreed, saying a change in attitude is the most 
helpful adjustment. "It's not the end of the world, but you 
know you'll have to hit the books harder with an 
international TA," he said.

Ryan said she seeks help from classmates, sometimes those in 
another section, when she doesn't understand material 
presented by her international TA. After "goofing up" a 
couple of assignments because she couldn't understand the 
instructions, she said she also is less hesitant now to ask 
the TA to repeat something, even several times.

Ryan and Kramer stressed that international TAs sometimes 
merely compound a very basic problem: tough, demanding 
courses.

A number of students say they eventually adjust to the speech 
patterns of their international TAs. It takes two to three 
weeks to overcome that initial language barrier, Devlin said.

She added that good international TAs "go out of their way to 
make sure that you do understand. They are open in saying, 
'If you don't understand me, let me know.' They want you to 
learn."

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contact:  Anne Dolan, News Service, (515) 294-7065
updated:  03-08-95