William Rittenberg - rittenbe@msu.edu
International TA Program
Michigan State University
Paper Presented at the Conference of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), Chicago Illinois, March 28, 1996
Good morning, this is the session "Cultural Support for International TAs: An Undergraduate Buddy Program." I'm one of the copresenters, Bill Rittenberg, and this is my colleague and coopresenter, Zeynep Altinsel.
Today, we'd like to share the results of a two-year project at Michigan State designed to provide cultural support for new international TAs. The purpose of the project, called the 'ITA Buddy Program,' is to increase international TAs' understanding of their undergraduate students. The program is funded by the Provost's Office and so far has served 40 new international TAs.
First a note on the context of the program. At MSU, services for international TAs are organized jointly by the TA Program (our program) and the English Language Center. Each year, the campus has about 100 new ITAs. As you can see from the flow chart, before Fall semester begins, the new ITAs are required to attend a week-long campus orientation and to take the SPEAK English screening test. The largest group, sixty percent or more, passes SPEAK (with a score of 230) and are cleared for teaching. The others either must retest on SPEAK or they must take a special English class and pass an exit interview before they're cleared for teaching.
Until recently, once the new ITAs had finished the orientation and cleared the English requirement, there was no followup support to help them deal with the cultural factors as they were actually teaching. So two years ago the Buddy Program was created to fill this gap.
The key idea behind the program is to intensify and accelerate the normal process by which international TAs learn about their undergraduate students. When newcomers come to live and work in a new culture, through their daily participation they will learn about aspects of the culture and how to function in it. For the new international TAs, this informal process of second culture learning naturally includes some learning about undergraduate students. The new ITAs learn about undergrads through direct interaction and in many other ways while participating in campus life.
The problem with this informal learning about undergraduate, however, is first that it's often very slow, and secondly that the quality of the learning is uneven. How much the ITAs learn depends upon the richness and extent of the ITAs' exposure to students. So, the strategy of the Buddy Program is to intensify and accelerate the ITAs normal informal learning about their students. We do this, first, by pairing individual ITAs with an undergraduate buddy, and then secondly by supporting the pair in developing a personal relationship that lasts some time, and then third, by engaging the buddy pair together in a guided observational study of undergraduate life on campus. In effect, the undergraduate buddy serves as the ITA's guide in exploring American student life on campus. The aspects of study and relationship in the program are connected. Doing the guided observational study is the occasion for developing a relationship and developing a relationship is essential for the doing the study.
So what we use to teach the ITAs more about their students is not didactic instruction or any formal training exercises but rather this process of guided naturalistic observation and discovery that the buddies do together.
Now, I'd like to turn the baton over to Zeynep and she'll describe for you more fully what's involved in this buddy program and the what kind of benefits we find the ITAs gain from it.
PARTICIPANTS & ACTIVITIES
To participate in the Buddy Program, ITAs must have cleared the university English requirement and started teaching. Before being accepted, they also must commit to participate fully in the program. The TAs' participation is free. The undergraduate buddies come from many backgrounds. Most of them have already shown an interest in international TAs and have a connection with the TA Program. The undergrads are paid for their participation, which usually amounts to about 25 hours or $125.
Table 2 shows you the ITAs and undergraduate buddies who have participated in the program so far. As you can see, it's a very diverse group, both of ITAs and undergrads.
Table 3 outlines the Buddies' program of activities. The program lasts a total of eight weeks. For each week except the last one the Buddy pairs have an assigned topic or aspect of student life to explore together. The sequence of topics moves roughly from conditions of student life outside the classroom to observation of classroom interaction itself. The early activities support the buddies in developing a friendship. Later ones encourage them to combine and synthesize what they have learned together. For each week there is an activity sheet which provides a framework in which they can explore the week's topic (see Table 4 for an example). While providing some guidance, the sheet leaves each pair of buddies free to explore the topic in their own way.
An essential adjunct to the Buddies' weekly activities are regular small group discussions in which the ITAs have meetings to discuss what they are learning about their undergrads, and the undergrads have meetings to discuss what they are learning about their TAs. Each buddy is also expected to keep a brief journal on the weekly activities.
In the first weekly meeting, buddies begin to get acquainted by exchanging life stories. They talk about their countries, schools, families, etc, and discover both similarities and differences in the backgrounds, having grown up in different countries.
In the second week, in order to learn about where and how MSU students live, they visit an undergrad dorm or the undergrad buddy's residence. ITAs see a dorm room, may meet roommates, tour the facilities and sometimes eat at the cafeteria.
The week following, in order to learn about some of MSU students' many commitments outside of class, they visit the undergrad buddy's place of employment or the place of employment of one of the buddy's friends. They discuss the importance of jobs in MSU students' lives, both financially and for students' future careers.
In week four, the theme is how MSU students make decisions about entering university and selecting a major. The buddies discuss and compare how each made academic decisions in his or her home country, and in the process the TA gains insights into how the MSU system differs from the TA's university and how it influences students' academic motivation and classroom behavior.
In week 5, the theme is students' extracurricular activities and recreation at MSU. The buddies may visit the Student Union or the athletic facilities at the IM and discuss how students balance a busy schedule of social activities with their study.
Weeks 6 and 7 involve a discussion of how MSU students study and either a trip to observe one of the UG's classes together or a meeting to watch and discuss a video of an UG class and discuss student behavior.
In the final week, each pair of buddies picks their own topic that they want to explore. At this stage, buddies who have developed a good relationship feel comfortable in discussing quite sensitive subjects together -- for instance, issues in personal relationships, race and diversity.
FRIENDLY RELATIONSHIPS
We have found that the undergraduate buddies learn as much or more from this program than the ITAs. Actually we can't overemphasize the value of the program for the undergraduate buddies, but today we'll only discuss how the program affects the ITAs.
The first benefit of the program for ITAs is that they develop a friendly personal relationship with an undergraduate student. As Table 5 shows, almost all of the 40 ITAs who have participated in the program so far developed good or excellent relationships with their buddies. Only two of the pairs had some interpersonal trouble in their relationship, and only three relationships were interrupted before finishing by outside factors like sickness or too much academic work.
Lisa and Chen's story illustrates how the buddy relationships may develop over time. Chen was a new Chem TA from China and Lisa was a junior in international relations from Michigan. In Lisa's journal from their first meeting, she noted that Chen seemed distant. "It was hard to read him," she wrote, his "facial expressions didn't give much away." Some other buddies make similar comments about the beginning meeting -- that it seemed stiff or formal, that they were concerned about bridging the gap. Early on, a number of the undergraduate buddies also mentioned that their ITAs didn't talk much. This occurred especially in cross-gender pairs. Being from a very different background, the male ITA might have been unsure about what topics would be appropriate to pick and discuss with an American female undergraduate. It was also a new experience for most of the international TAs to use English in developing a personal relationship.
Some occasional stiffness toward the beginning of the relationships seems natural. Over time, however, the buddies became more comfortable with each other. In their weekly meetings, they developed many shared experiences they could talk about; they learned a great deal about each others' background and developed a 'feel' for being together. The journals contain many signs that the relationships opened up. Lisa, for example, wrote that her meetings with Chen got "a lot less low keyed than before" and that he was "posing more direct questions." Other undergrads also mentioned the ITAs began talking more. Many buddies became comfortable talking freely on a wide range of topics. They discussed some quite sensitive issues.
By the end of the program, many buddies had achieved, perhaps for the first time, an "open channel" of communication with a person from another culture. The ITAs expressed genuine interest in finding out what their undergraduate buddies really were thinking. The undergrads too expressed satisfaction. "I was excited," one wrote, "he opened up a lot more than I thought. I'm glad we weren't intimidated to ask each other questions." As the relationships had unfolded, many of the buddies had also begun introducing each other to friends, spouses, and family. This was what happened for Lisa and Chen. By the end of the program, they had both introduced each other to their spouse or fiancee, and the couples were meeting socially. Lisa and her fiancee wrote "We enjoy the friendship. I think they do too." Speaking of their relationship Chen and his wife told us with enthusiasm "We have friends now!"
Developing their first personal relationship with an American undergraduate student is an important step for the new international TAs. For most of the ITAs, their first and only full relationship with an undergrad is the one with their buddy. For some, this is also the first relationship they have had with a person from another culture. The successful buddy relationships help dispel ITAs' uncertainties and build their confidence. It strengthens their sense of connection to the MSU students, and helps them feel part of the university community. A number of the ITAs said that this increased confidence would make them more comfortable in their teaching.
NEW UNDERSTANDINGS
The second benefit of the program for ITAs is developing a fuller understanding of undergraduate students. This happens through the relationship with their buddy.
At the opening of the program, the ITAs will already have some opinions and ideas about MSU students, which may come from friends or media or from their experience teaching in the classroom. In some cases, we assume such ideas about the students may be rather sketchy, because they are not based on much experience.
Then, in each of the weekly activities with their buddy, and in the small group discussions, the ITAs gain a wealth of new information about student life. How do the ITAs make sense of the new information and what kind of understandings do they develop from it? Here are some observations and examples, based on the ITAs' comments in their journals and small group discussions.
A first observation is that as the weekly activities occur, individual ITAs will notice some things that immediately stand out. Most often, these are aspects of undergraduate life that are strikingly different from what the ITA has experienced as a student at home. A first kind of learning from the program occurs when ITAs reflect on and draw lessons from these striking new facts that they have encountered.
Example #1
For example, when ITAs visit the buddy's residence hall, they report on many surprises or noteworthy points, such as the noise in the hall, or the fact that there may be only two students per room as compared to eight at home, and so on. In one case, when a Chinese Computer Science TA visited his buddy's hall, what especially stood out for him was the fact that the students at the hall weren't all in the same major as they would be in China. This reminded the TA of an incident when one of his female computer science students had asked for help. The TA had assumed on the Chinese model that the student lived in the same hall as the other class members, so he told her to ask her fellow class members for help. The TA realized he had made a mistake - that his student didn't live with her classmates; in fact she might not have been friends with any of them and might not have gotten any help from them. He felt bad about this and called it "a concerning experience." In the future, based on his new understand of residence hall patterns, this ITA probably gave his students more realistic advice about getting help.
Example #2
In a second example, an ITA got information about his buddies' study habits that led him to question a common preconception about American students. During the week on study habits, this ITA found that his buddy and a friend of the buddy both studied very hard. Thinking about this, he wrote in his journal
"Many people told me most /MSU/ students are either lazy or busy with part time jobs. They only study during the finals week. I found this is not the case. Most American students I know ... study very hard."
Like the first example, this one also illustrates how ITAs notice surprising individual facts during the weekly activities and then draw lessons from them that influence the ITAs' assumptions and practical approach to their students.
A second aspect of the ITAs' learning is how the ITAs are able to integrate many separate piece of information and facts from the program into new patterns of understanding about their students. The required journals and small group discussions systematically encourage the ITAs to seek connections between facts and do this work of integration.
Example #3
As an example, consider a journal entry by Mr. Wu from the fourth week of the program. In this week the buddies meet to discuss students' academic decision making -- how students enter university and choose a major. In the discussion, Mr. Wu got new insight into how many academic choices MSU students have and he put this information together with what he knew about China to arrive at a new understanding of the students' academic situation.
In China, Wu noted, students have to pass strict university entrance exams and are admitted into a particular major where their curriculum of study is almost completely fixed. "You have few choices," he wrote. "It's difficult to change to another major. So [Chinese] students have to focus their attention in one major. ... because they have no choice, they study and improve their background in that area."
In contrast at MSU, he wrote, " ... because there are no strict [university entrance] exams to test basic subjects MSU students [have] diverse backgrounds. ... Because making change is very easy here, you can change your major, drop course, and take another course." "Sometimes ... [students] ... change to a major just because they like it or heard from friends, some of their friends like and they take. These give rise to a problem that they are not very well prepare to take these courses. They don't have good background."
"Being a TA, we sometimes shouldn't expect /as in China/ that every student taking the courses have solid background. Making change is very easy here.... We should know the facts and be prepared for these possible difficulties."
Here Wu put together information on several topics into an understanding that will help him practically in relating to his students in the classroom. Not surprisingly, journal entries and group discussions which express such integrated understandings of cultural differences occur more frequently later in the program.
A final aspect of the ITAs' learning that we would like to mention concerns the ITAs' personal appreciation of their buddy, and by extension, their personal appreciation of other MSU undergraduates. Most of the ITAs like and are curious about their buddies at a personal level. As they get new information about their buddy, they naturally combine it with what they already know to understand their buddy better. Gradually, they develop a complex personal understanding of a particular student in his or her context. They see the student's character, the typical aspects of the student's situation as a student, and the student's struggles in that situation. With that kind of personal understanding of one student, they can make further leaps to understand other students as well.
This is perhaps the most encouraging result we have found from the buddy program. It arises from the combination of the TAs' friendly relationship with a particular student and their fuller background of understandings about student life. What we notice is that TAs develop a new sympathetic appreciation of the difficulties that MSU students must face personally and deal with. While the TAs may not necessarily approve of all aspects of the students' situation in the American system, we find they still develop a measure of personal respect for the students for coping with it. The respect and understanding the ITAs develop arises from the work they do in their relationship with their buddy, and is truly their own -- it's not something an authority told them, or moral advice from a book, but an understanding they created for themselves. This is discovery learning. Having created it for themselves, we think the TAs probably trust it and take it more seriously than simple 'book learning' about cultural differences.
THREE STORIES
To illustrate the themes we discussed earlier, we'd like to introduce you to three buddy pairs and tell you their stories. We'll share with you what they had in their journals on what they learned and how they felt.
#1
Shu-Wei, a chemistry TA, and Pat, a mature freshman, both female, completed the activities. Although they are one of the good but not-excellent pairs in terms of close relationships on Table 4, Wei had a lot to say about the benefits of the program and proved what she said by sending her husband, a Math TA, to join the program the following semester. Wei had worked with volunteer undergraduate tutors on her English earlier. In the relationship with Pat she was able to learn a lot more about the undergraduates. Some of her final comments:
#1 The first thing that changed may assumptions is the students' study habit. Before I talked to Pat, I thought the American students often study by group, and often ask help from TA or professor. But Pat studies in her dorm and by herself, and she doesn't always ask help from TAs or professors.
The second thing that surprised me is too much work that students have to do, such as Pat's boyfriend, he need work all the weekend for about nine or ten hours for one day, because he need earn money to pay his tuition and livings. This totally different from me. When I was in the college, I didn't need work, the government paid me tuition and my parent payed my livings. When I didn't have money, I can ask my parent help me. The independent of American student is too strong to believe for my background.
Finally at the potluck dinner that ended the program, she told us all that she changed her understanding of undergraduate students.
#2
Hamid, a Chemistry TA from Ethiopia and Sam, a junior in International relations, a very good student, both male, had a very good relationship and the TA expressed the value of the program for him in the final evaluation. Although a lot of TAs are very busy and have a hard time arranging to be at the meetings during the semester, they tell us how much they learned at the end and they are happy they participated. Hamid said it was very hectic for him but he still believes the TAs should be in the program in their first semester.
In ranking the activities in the program, he ranked "TA-student interaction" high. He said "Watching the videotape of a Math class complaining after the test was very helpful". He asked whether the events shown on it had really happened. He said the tape could help him prepare mentally and avoid "being trapped" if one of his classes, as a group, became very critical of the test and instruction. He said, in this tape not just one student complained but they all complained together. He said that would NEVER happen in Ethiopia. He said the students at home might compare their scores and try to figure out what the more successful students had done and try to learn from their success, but they would NEVER question the legitimacy of the exam. Even though Ethiopian students would not respond this way to their professors, H's tone in discussing the American students behavior was not negative judgment. Instead, from the beginning he seemed to accept, this is the way students sometimes behave here, and his interest was "how can I respond effectively if this should happen to me." He said, the Buddy Project had shown him how much pressure and difficulties the students face, working, with other assignments, so he could appreciate why students might complain.
#3
Mali, an Indian Computer Science TA, and June, a senior in International Relations, both female, had an excellent relationship. They enjoyed each other's company a lot and their activities were not limited by the program. They even visited the June's high school in her home town. The TA was teaching for the first time that semester and trying to deal with the cultural differences in her classroom. The program came probably at the right time for her.
After the student workplace activity, Mali's comments were, "It's really hard to work and study. It made me realize they are not spending their whole time on studying, which is what we do in India. They have a lot of work. It's a good thing to understand and see what they are going through doing studies. But they seem to be having a lot of fun."
When the two buddies went to an undergraduate discussion class together, Mali seemed to be very impressed with the discussion and she had interesting comments on the student behavior. She said
"I really enjoyed the undergraduate class. June and I went together.I expected everyone to sit and listen to the prof and not talk. If you see one class, you know how it goes, you feel more comfortable. Any undergraduate class. It was so casual, I liked it. I think TAs should also attend some different class, not in computer science department."
She also noticed a new method of teaching: "Teaching is different here. In India they teach the book."
The most useful observation for her was on the student behavior in the classroom. She said when she started teaching, she felt the students were not respectful at first. With the experience in her classroom and the discussion with the buddy and the other TAs, she said
"I understand how the education system is. People are casual." and she went on saying "Drinking cola, chewing gum doesn't mean that they are disrespectful. I take student behavior personally. That's so true. We get hurt."
The behavior she finds disrespectful in her culture hurt her. At the end of the program, she said she felt friendlier and more confident going to her class.
* * * * *
These are only a few examples from the program. I wish I could share other stories with you, but we want to leave some time for questions.
It was difficult to tell you only about the TAs, because the undergraduates learn and benefit as much as they help the ITAs.
From the university's standpoint, the undergrads provide a realistic cultural learning experience for the international TAs. They also give the ITAs a lot of personal attention and support. Such learning opportunity and support would be much more expensive if it came from professional staff.
From the undergraduates' standpoint, the buddy relationship is a very rich one. For about half of the undergrads, this is the first full personal relationship they have had with someone from another culture. It makes a big impression on some undergrads to talk with someone whom they have grown to like who has very different beliefs than they do. Another benefit for the undergrads, who are mostly juniors and seniors, and thinking about their future careers, is to hear about the ITA's academic accomplishments and high discipline as a successful graduate student. The undergrads are impressed, sometimes inspired, hearing how hard the ITAs work and what they accomplish. So the ITAs become role models for the undergrads. The undergrads also go through a change in their attitude to common student complaints about "the foreign TA problem." They become critics of fellow students' narrow stereotypes and defenders of the ITAs.
It's been an enriching experience working with the undergrads and TAs in the program, but as you can imagine a lot of practical problem solving is necessary to make it work. The program requires a committed coordinator with a flexible schedule. Another management issue is being careful to adapt the schedule and workload of the program so it doesn't conflict with the ITAs' higher priority and stressful academic, work, and family commitments. Adapting the workload of the buddy program is essential to gain the ITAs' effective participation. Recruiting suitable ITAs and buddies, monitoring their relationships, working with the journals, and conducting the small group meetings all takes time and effort. I'd be happy to answer any questions about these practical matters or anything else anyone would like to bring up. Thank you very much for your attention. Are there any questions?
MSU Services for International TAs
| ITA Orientation | ||
| ê | ||
| SPEAK Test | ||
| í | è |
î |
| ITA English Class |
ITA Buddy Program |
|
Table 2
Buddy Program Participants
|
International TAs (N = 40) |
|||||||
|
Countries |
Departments |
Gender |
|||||
| PRC India Korea Phil Taiwan Romania Bulgaria Ethiopia Germany Grt Brit Turkey |
21 6 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 |
Chemistry Comp Sci Math Biochem Microbiol Psychol Botany Economics English Geog Mat Sci Sociology Statistics |
10 9 6 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 |
Female
Male |
13
27 |
||
|
Undergraduates (N = 29) |
|||||||
| Class Standing | Gender | Recruitment | Majors | ||||
| Senior Junior Soph Fresh |
15 11 2 1 |
Female
Male |
24
5 |
Eng Tutor Tutor's Friend Ind Study Orientation Intern |
10 8 5 4 1 |
Int Rel Audiology Social Rel Anthro Comm Arts Physiol Bus Adm English Journalism Lingusitics Marketing Med Tech Psychology Sociology Telecomm |
5 5 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 |
Table 3
Buddy Program Activities
Opening |
-- |
Orientation |
|
Week 1 |
-- |
Sharing Life Stories |
|
Week 2 |
-- |
Student Residence |
|
Week 3 |
-- |
Student Employment |
|
Week 4 |
-- |
Academic Decision Making |
|
Week 5 |
-- |
Extracurricular Activities |
|
Week 6 |
-- |
How Students Study |
|
Week 7 |
-- |
Student/Teacher Interaction |
|
Week 8 |
-- |
Optional Topic (Buddies' Choice) |
|
Wrap Up |
-- |
Closing Potluck |
Table 4
Student Workplace
The majority of MSU Undergraduate students work while they take classes. It may be different in the TAs' countries. The students may not have to work to pay for school and can concentrate only on school work. For this week's discussion, you will be visiting the undergraduate's workplace and have a chance to discuss how working affects their academic study.
TAs, think about some questions before you meet your buddy. As you learn about the UG's job, compare it to student life in your own country. Get ready to discuss the way students relate to work at your university. Remember we would like the TAs to share their background and views on these issues with the undergrads.
Tour of Workplace
Undergrads, take the TA to your workplace.
Show the environment you work in. Introduce your buddy to your coworkers.
Talk about what you do. For instance, your responsibilities, how many hours you work, how you found the job.
As you tour, answer the questions about things that your buddy notices and is curious about.
Have some time after the tour to discuss further and also listen to how things are in the TAs country and his/her comments.
Discussion about MSU Undergraduates
Undergraduate buddy - Why do you work? (for the income, job experience). Is the job experience important for your career goals? What are some of the other reasons students work? (internships, volunteer work)
What other jobs have you personally had before this one? What off-campus jobs do students get (clerical jobs, restaurants, sales positions)? Where can students work on campus?( residence halls, academic departments, labs, library). How do they find jobs? Where are the jobs posted?
In your opinion, does working interfere or contribute to students' learning?
How does work affect your study?
Discussion about TA's Country
TAs, what is the situation regarding work for students in your country? Have you had a job while you were in school? Where? Do students work in your country? Why?
How would people in your country feel about how working would affect a university student's education?
TA/Buddy Relationships
| Excellent | Good/OK | Trouble | |
|
Completed |
26 | 10 | 1 |
| Stopped Before Completing Full Program |
2 | - | 1 |