SPEAK/TEACH: A High-Stakes Exam


by Anne Dolan
The process is a bit like judging figure skating or testing 
wine, says Barbara Plakans. 

International students promised teaching assistantships at 
Iowa State are given the green light to teach by a panel of 
SPEAK/TEACH Program evaluators, trained in linguistics. 
Plakans, who coordinates the program within the Graduate 
College, said evaluators have to keep certain criteria in 
mind as they listen to graduate students from all over the 
world audition for that stamp of approval.

"They're asking themselves, 'Will undergraduates understand 
this?' 'When I ask a question of them, do they understand and 
answer it?' 'Will they know how to react and interact with 
students?'" Plakans said.

So far this year, the answer has been "yes" for just 52 
percent of 166 inter-national TAs taking the SPEAK/TEACH 
tests. In the SPEAK test, students are interviewed by two or 
three evaluators and asked to read a passage, explain 
drawings, organize a classroom announcement and describe a 
common object. 

In the TEACH test, they prepare a five-minute mini-lecture on 
basic topics in their disciplines assigned to them a day 
earlier. Students must score 220 points out of a possible 300 
to pass each test. 

"These tests are not intended to measure the English skills 
of someone who wants to be a diplomat or a spy," Plakans 
said. "Still, we try to be pretty tough."

The SPEAK test was developed by the Educational Testing 
Service and adopted by Iowa State in 1984. It is used by 
universities all over the United States and Canada. The TEACH 
test was developed in 1985 by an ISU team, including Plakans 
and Roberta Abraham, professor of English.

SPEAK/TEACH success rates at Iowa State in the past 10 years 
have averaged 67 percent. Plakans said the doctoral research 
she completed a year ago indicating some dissatisfaction with 
international TAs among undergraduates on campus may have 
made raters more critical, resulting in the recent drop in 
success rates.

"For some of the prospective TAs, these are high-stakes 
exams," Plakans said, "especially because some departments 
haven't offered assistantships yet. It can be a scary 
experience, but teaching can be scary, too."

Test takers who already have received assistantship offers 
from their departments hang on to their assistantships if 
they don't pass the tests, but their assigned duties may be 
limited to grading papers or setting up labs. Those who don't 
pass and have a TA appointment are required to take a three-
credit, semester-long course, "Communication Skills for 
International Teaching Assistants," then take the SPEAK/TEACH 
tests again. 

In addition to passing and failing marks, test takers can 
receive conditional or partial passing marks, which restrict 
the amount of classroom experience they can have and requires 
them to complete the TA training class.

The class covers pronunciation and grammar, teaching and 
presentation skills, and cultural awareness. TA presentations 
are videotaped so they have the chance to observe and 
critique each other's performances. TAs are placed in class 
sections of about a dozen, according to skills needing work.

The classes even have developed a reputation among 
international graduate students who aren't TAs but want help 
in learning how to do class presentations. Plakans said those 
graduate students are admitted if space is available.

Plakans said a growing number of departments take TA training 
more seriously and conduct training for their own 
international TAs. Also, in August the Graduate College 
sponsors a day-long orientation session for all TAs and a 
supplementary half-day orientation workshop for international 
TAs.

"From our point of view, they are optional, but some 
departments require their TAs to attend them," she said. 
"It's a sign of the growing concern about undergraduate 
teaching."

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contact:  Anne Dolan, News Service, (515) 294-7065
updated:  3-8-95