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When my son was in college he had a professor teaching physics which he couldn't understand. Went for extra help and did everything he could to pass the test. Unfortunately he was given a D which could affect his scholarship. He took a summer course and passed with an A, as the professor was not foreign born. When you are paying the ridiculous amount of tuition and students are in so much debt before they graduate, they should be given professors that they can understand.
I don't understand the "why" behind colleges hiring staff that students can't understand.
My 15 year old took a placement test for a class (precalculus) at the local state U yesterday. He's looking to take the class over the summer and this was a requirement. The proctor for the test was a TA and I couldn't understand a thing he said to me other than he was a "TA" for the "mash faswent" (math department) when I dropped my kid off to take the test.
When I picked my son up my son said the test went well, but he was reprimanded for not putting his pencil down when the TA called for it. He didn't understand what the guy (grad student) was saying - he wasn't the only one.
My husband went to this same University and has always complained about not being able to understand Professors or TAs due to their thick/heavy accents. And he grew up in house with a father who had a thick and heavy accent, just from a different part of the world than the majority of the professors and TAs came from.
Why hire someone to teach students that the majority of students can't understand?
Did you complain to the school? Maybe if enough people do, the school will take some action. If not enough people do, the school will have no need to change.
It sucks in both situations. When you have a professor/TA that is difficult to understand and when you have a student that is difficult to understand. At least with a professor/TA it's understandable why they might be hired. But accepting a student that is difficult to understand should only be allowed in the most extreme circumstances.
I wouldn't worry about the reprimanding. It's not meaningful. Is it impacting his ability to learn? That's the real question.
It was only for the placement test. This TA is not going to be teaching any of the precalculus summer classes offered. He was just proctoring.
The impossible to understand TAs also come from being accepted by the college and as students first. KNOWING they have a language barrier as students, let alone giving them a TA job.
The colleges are well aware of the difficulty. When one of my sons was at orientation, he had a 504 plan in place due to a learning disability. His advisor went through his schedule and changed all the classes he had with foreign-born professors. He figured our son would have enough difficulty with lectures without adding in a heavy accent.
Son has since graduated with 2 degrees.
So a school official actually admitted some of those foreign-born professors are difficult to understand.
I don't understand the "why" behind colleges hiring staff that students can't understand.
My 15 year old took a placement test for a class (precalculus) at the local state U yesterday. He's looking to take the class over the summer and this was a requirement. The proctor for the test was a TA and I couldn't understand a thing he said to me other than he was a "TA" for the "mash faswent" (math department) when I dropped my kid off to take the test.
When I picked my son up my son said the test went well, but he was reprimanded for not putting his pencil down when the TA called for it. He didn't understand what the guy (grad student) was saying - he wasn't the only one.
My husband went to this same University and has always complained about not being able to understand Professors or TAs due to their thick/heavy accents. And he grew up in house with a father who had a thick and heavy accent, just from a different part of the world than the majority of the professors and TAs came from.
Why hire someone to teach students that the majority of students can't understand?
When the Iron Curtain came down, many Eastern European physicists fled west and got jobs teaching math and physics at American universities. They knew the material inside-out and were probably willing to work for less. What-ever the reason, they came over in droves. I knew a lot of students who claimed they could not understand the accents, but I did just fine, and many would describe me as having "selective hearing". To be frank, I think that those who complained the loudest were the ones who were on the verge of failing because they were simply lazy to begin with. TAs TA because it is a part of their stipend, at least in STEM, and your son (not you) can always bring this concern to the prof.
The impossible to understand TAs also come from being accepted by the college and as students first. KNOWING they have a language barrier as students, let alone giving them a TA job.
If they are foreign-born and admitted, they had to have scored high enough on the TOEFL to have been admitted. To add, their SOP would indicate that they can read and write in American English, which is more important to a grad student studying in America than whether or not anyone can slice through their accent, and as such, no language barrier will exist since communications will largely be through the written word, anyways. If they are directly funded by a prof/PI then you can bet they will TA for that prof/PI. If they are being funded, even if only in part, by the Department or DGS, you can bet they most certainly will TA.
International grad students, even those from Canada and Mexico, cost more to fund than domestic students. Think of it like this: cash, grass, or TAship, no one gets a totally free ride (and paying your own way through grad school in STEM is just odd).
Grad school is social conditioning/training for a career in academia even if the student wishes to work in industry. Teaching is a part of that preparation. The only way to avoid the accents are to attend a non-R1 and/or to attend a university that does not confer Ph.Ds.
I was a foreign student who had trouble understanding English when I just started at the American university. I passed my TOEFL with flying colors, but it was hard to understand a Pakistani born professor in my Data Communication and Networks class. It was even harder to understand Chinese students in my assigned lab group. But we all got used to each other and survived. I got an A in the Data Communication class. Next year I was taking a class from an Indian prof, who all American students claimed to be hard to understand. I didn't have any issues with him.
Now I work in IT and I have a LOT of coworkers whose first language is not English. We also contract developers for short projects in India, they work remotely. My conference calls with them are still a nightmare, as I can't understand half of what they are saying. I try to shift as much communication as I can towards emails. Again, I survive, and I don't complain that my colleagues' accents affect my performance. I hope no one complains about my accent either. I go to professional conferences and give presentations, all with my accent. I attend plenty of presentations there that are given by non-native speakers.
My point is - it's a brave new world and this is how a lot of highly paid fields are. It's never too early to start getting used to it.
My son - a high school junior - has a math teacher who is from Afghanistan. He has a thick accent, but is pretty easy to understand. At least, to my Eastern European ear
When the Iron Curtain came down, many Eastern European physicists fled west and got jobs teaching math and physics at American universities. They knew the material inside-out and were probably willing to work for less. What-ever the reason, they came over in droves. I knew a lot of students who claimed they could not understand the accents, but I did just fine, and many would describe me as having "selective hearing". To be frank, I think that those who complained the loudest were the ones who were on the verge of failing because they were simply lazy to begin with. TAs TA because it is a part of their stipend, at least in STEM, and your son (not you) can always bring this concern to the prof.
Yes, that my thinking as well. At the university level much more is learned outside class than in. It takes time for some students to realize that but its true especially in STEM fields.
I agree, its a pain in the butt. I have had TA's and teachers in college whose accent was so thick that we couldn't understand a word that was being said. Seriously, in one class in particular, the class had to engage in outside study-groups to make sure we understood the material. We took our concerns to the department head, but he said there was nothing he could do about it. Such situations are infuriating, especially as students and their families are often spending a heck of a lot of money to attend these institutions.
When the Iron Curtain came down, many Eastern European physicists fled west and got jobs teaching math and physics at American universities. They knew the material inside-out and were probably willing to work for less. What-ever the reason, they came over in droves. I knew a lot of students who claimed they could not understand the accents, but I did just fine, and many would describe me as having "selective hearing". To be frank, I think that those who complained the loudest were the ones who were on the verge of failing because they were simply lazy to begin with. TAs TA because it is a part of their stipend, at least in STEM, and your son (not you) can always bring this concern to the prof.
I understand where you are coming from.
He's only in HS and this was just a TA proctoring the "placement" test for a summer college Calculus class he's hoping to "place in to" so he can take a more advanced Calc class his Jr. year of HS.
Last edited by Informed Info; 04-12-2015 at 10:38 PM..
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