Language barrier frustrates TA-student relationship

Some students wear puzzled expressions. Others whisper to each other and snicker. "Do you understand what the TA is saying?" they ask. While all teaching assistants are required to be fluent in the English language, many slip by on ambiguous regulations and questionable language proficiency programs. College freshman Peter Janney said his Math TA is unable to speak English fluently, a barrier could ultimately have a negative impact on his grade. "My TA is Spanish and he doesn't understand our questions and we have difficulty answering his questions," he said. "All the people in my class feel the same way," he added. "We can't get much help, whereas with another TA we could." According to Gay Washblum, associate director of English Language Programs, all TAs are required by the state of Pennsylvania to be fluent in English. But she said the definition of fluency is left ambiguous, so individual institutions define it liberally. The School of Arts and Sciences sponsors a summer English training program for all international TAs, according to Washblum. "Every international TA who has passed our test is fluent," she said. But students like College junior Laura Schulman have had experiences that prove otherwise. Schulman said she was so frustrated with her Math TA that she switched sections. "I didn't understand him [and] I got out in a second," she said, adding that she believes the language barrier is particularly bad in Math classes because many Math TAs hail from foreign countries. Schulman said she doubts the reliability of the school's proficiency test. "I'm proficient in French, but I can't speak three words of it to you," she noted. Math Professor Herman Gluck, the department's TA training coordinator, said he has heard about the problem within his department and others in the University. He explained that the problem is particularly frustrating for Math students because while many other subjects allow students to catch up on the material they miss, Math students who "miss a few things can be a dead duck in water." "There's no doubt that lots of departments in the School of Arts and Sciences have problems with both professors and TAs," he said. Gluck explained that the Math Department tries to combat the problem by having faculty observe TAs. He said faculty members almost always tell the TAs to slow down, learn the students' names and face the classroom. But the language barrier extends far beyond mathematics. Wharton senior Jim Loveman said his Astronomy TA "has the chronic English problem." "The [only] question he explained to me on the? assignment is the only one I missed points on," he said.