New England ITA Network
Where is your ITA Program located? (ESL Program, Institute for Teaching,
English Department, etc.)
The ITA Program is in the Institute
for Teaching and Learning under Undergraduate
Education and Instruction.
To whom do you report and from whom do you receive funding?
As the director of the ITA Program, I report to the Director of the Institute
for Teaching and Learning and to the Vice-Provost of Undergraduate Education,
from whom our funding comes.
How many ITAs do you work with in your orientation/testing/classes
in a typical semester?
This August we had 62 new ITAs attend our 1-week Orientation and we currently
have about 36 students enrolled in three different classes: Accent Only,
IntermediateClass and the Advance Class.
What assessments do you use?
We administer the Pearson’s Versant™ for English Test and we use
a microteaching test as well.
What classes do you offer? (Please give a brief description, if possible,
along with citations of textbooks used)
- Accent Only: offered to students by recommendation from instructors
- Intermediate Class: for lower proficiency students--usesCommunicating on Campus by Hemmert, A., and O’Connell, G. Alta Book Center Publishing and Lane, L. Focus on Pronunciation 2. White Plains: Longman. They also have conversations with undergraduates in this class.
- Advance Class: Pronunciation for Success and Success with Presentations by Meyers, C. and Holt, S. Aspen Productions. This course has two basic components: culture/pedagogy and improving
language
skills in the context of making presentations.
What is the single biggest problem you face?
The single biggest problem would have to be convincing the departments
and the TAs that language cannot be improved overnight, and that the classes
are worth attending. |
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