The International Teaching Assistant Program (ITAP) began in 1982. The purpose of the program is to evaluate and train international graduate teaching assistants whose native language is not English. UA requires all non-native English speaking graduate students who accept classroom teaching or other instructional duties to successfully complete ITAP, typically before beginning their duties. However, depending on their English proficiency, some students may be allowed to assume duties while they are enrolled in ITAP. The program includes an English Language Institute (ELI) Oral Skills course and UA Teaching Academy training.

New Students: Prior to the beginning of the ITAP courses each semester, new students are placed into one of the aforementioned modules based on their iBT/IELTS/DET speaking subtest score and/or their results on the oral placement test administered by the ELI.

PLACEMENT TEST WILL BE ONLINE by Zoom appointments, arranged by email. The interview is only 7-8 minutes, so students will be given a 10-minute slot when notified of the appointment and Zoom link. Make-up PLACEMENT TEST: by arrangement only (email marcid@eli.ua.edu to schedule a Zoom interview.)

Periodically, exemptions are granted to TAs who have already passed a program similar to the ITAP program at UA and/or have taught lecture classes at a university in the United States. Documentation needs to be submitted and approved for an exemption.

The guidelines used in placing new students are as follows:

Note: All international students must take the Culture of Learning in US Higher Education badge in their first semester of teaching unless they are required to take the Oral Skills class. If they are required to take the Oral Skills class, they will have two semesters to complete the badge requirement.

New students who initially place into Oral Skills are placed into either an 8-week or 16-week class. At the end of the class, they are given the ITAP Proficiency Exam.

Repeating Students: Students who wish to repeat the ITAP course will be placed according to their most recent test results, provided these results are less than a semester old. If their results are more than a semester old, the students will be given the placement test again.

The Oral Skills Exam is only given to students who have successfully completed the Oral Skills course. The OS class is considered as successfully completed or not based upon class attendance and participation. The Oral Skills Exam is given four times per year: at the end of each semester to all eligible students and at mid-semester to students enrolled in the 8-week Oral Skills class or taking the Exam-Only. Students may only take the Oral Skills Exam once per semester.

Oral Skills Exam: This exam tests general speaking and listening proficiency in English. Examinees are asked questions and to perform tasks such as giving directions, advice, and recommendations; describing pictures; and answering open-ended questions about general topics. Responses are recorded and evaluated by at least two raters at a later time. The Oral Skills Exam is rated on a scale of 60.

FINAL EVALUATIONS
Based on their Oral Skills Exam results as well as their ELI instructor’s assessment as to their ability to speak comprehensively as graduate teaching assistants at UA, ITAP participants are given one of three evaluations: Full Pass, Conditional Pass, or No Pass.

• Full Pass: The student has sufficient language and teaching skills which allow for full teaching responsibility in a lecture-type class.
• Conditional Pass: The student has problems with certain language and/or teaching skills and should only be given teaching responsibility in a lab or tutorial situation where instruction occurs mostly on a one-to-one basis or in a classroom situation where a senior teacher is present. The student should not be given full teaching responsibility, nor should the student be given teaching responsibilities which involve lecturing as the mode of instruction.
• No Pass: The student has serious problems with certain language and/or teaching skills and should be given no speaking responsibility in a class, lab, tutorial, or other situations in which the student disseminates information in a formal capacity.

NOTE: In some instances students are given a Trial Pass (Trial Full Pass or Trial Conditional Pass). A “trial” recommendation is valid only until the next Oral Skills exam is given. For example, a “trial” given in December is valid for the spring semester only; a “trial” given in May is valid for either the summer terms or fall semester.

ITAPPE RANGES FOR FINAL EVALUATIONS

• 52-60: Full Pass
• 46-51: Conditional Pass
• 00-45: No Pass

NOTES:

1. The ranges listed above should not be considered as exact cut-off points but rather as suggested guidelines for making final evaluations.
2. A student needs an Oral Skills Exam score of 52 for a Full Pass, each subtest score (SPEAK and Sample Lesson) must be at least 50. Similarly, for a Conditional Pass, the Oral Skills Exam score must be 46 or above.

NOTIFICATION OF EXAM RESULTS
Placement exam and Oral Skills Exam results are posted on the Graduate School website via Slate. To display a student’s detailed results, the department must click on the student’s name. In addition to individual test scores and final ITAP evaluation, other information, such as permission to teach or conditions placed on a student’s evaluation, may be entered. Departments are responsible for conveying this information as well as exam results to their students. The ELI notifies groups of students of their overall evaluation results, but not details.

FOLLOW-UP
A follow-up observation is conducted of each student who receives a passing recommendation from the International Teaching Assistant Program and is actually given a teaching assignment. At least once during the ITA’s first semester of teaching, an ELI instructor will observe the ITA in the classroom and meet with him or her to discuss the ITA’s performance. Continued follow-up observations are conducted if they are deemed necessary. A report is written by the instructor that observed the ITA and sent to the department and the student. If the observation confirms the ITA’s status, the ITA receives an ITAP certificate of completion.

Students are registered for the ITAP Program by their departments. All registration is done through the Graduate School during the designated registration period. Departments are notified of the registration period in a memorandum from the Graduate School. The memorandum also includes general information on ITAP. The student will be notified of the date, time, and place of the ITAP course and exam. Students are registered as Class-New or Exam-Only students.

Students who have never taken the ITAP course are registered as NEW. New students are automatically given the an Oral Skills Exam as part of the class and thus do not need to be registered for the exam separately.

Students who have both successfully completed the Oral SKills course and taken the Oral Skills Exam previously and wish only to retake the Oral Skills Exam should be registered as EXAM-ONLY. This is for students who wish to increase their level of teaching eligibility, e.g., from Conditional Pass to Full Pass.

LANGUAGE RESOURCES FOR ITAP STUDENTS
In order to improve their oral English proficiency, students need to speak English as much as possible out of class. Useful suggestions for improving speaking skills include:

1. Living with a native speaker or an international student of a different language group
2. Sharing office space with a native speaker or an international student of a different language group
3. Seeking opportunities to speak English outside the classroom by joining a club (UA “Get Onboard Day” is a good place to start) or volunteering in the community (Center for Service and Leadership, 1100 Ferguson Student Center)
4. Current and former ITAP students can access language-improvement materials in the ELI Study Center.
5. All international graduate students at UA can enroll in the 8-week Graduate Academic Speaking class at the ELI as well as undergo accent-reduction therapy at the
   UA Speech and Hearing Center.

Additionally, there are numerous language websites that students can access for focused study to improve their language skills:

For information regarding ITAP registration and status, contact UA Graduate School, amg@ua.edu.

For information regarding ITAP badges, contact UA Teaching Academy, cmajor@ua.edu.

For information regarding ITAP Oral Skills, contact Marci Daugherty, marcid@eli.ua.edu.