Thank you for your interest in helping the Spoken English Program achieve its objectives in training International Teaching Assistants. Our goals are to help the graduate students learn how to understand and field questions in an appropriate manner and to become accustomed to different forms of casual speech as it is actually spoken.

Although you may not know anything about the content of a student's presentation, there are still a number of questions you may ask. Below we list some sample questions:

Repetition

• I didn't hear that - could you say it again?
• That went by pretty fast - would you explain that again, please?
• I don't understand that last point. Could you explain it differently?

Clarification

• What does _______ mean?
• Could you tell us the definition of ___________?
• Can you give me an example?
• Is this going to be on the test?
• Is that a "1" or a "7"?
• Could you spell that?

Implications and Contrast

• Why is that important?
• What's the purpose of that step/procedure?
• How is that different from _______________?
• Don't you think the main reason that happens is because _________?
• Is it true that (every cell has DNA) and if so, what about _________?
• In high school my teacher told me that _______, but you're saying ________.

Suggested Questions

1. What characteristics do you think are important in a TA?
2. What do you do when you're not happy with a class or a teacher?
3. Have you ever had a foreign TA before? Was your experience a good one?
4. Would you rather have an American TA or a foreign TA? Why?
5. Do Americans expect teachers to entertain them and to tell jokes?
6. Do many American students work? How many hours?
7. How much do you study every week?
8. What do you expect from your education?
9. Who pays for your education?
10. Do you have a "consumer attitude"?
11. Are you going to go to graduate school? Do many Americans?
12. Besides language, what is the major difference between American TAs and Foreign TAs?
13. Have you ever experienced culture shock before? Do you know what it is?
14. What are you going to do when you graduate from college?
15. Why do Americans always ask so many questions in class?
16. Do students want to know about my culture and my country?
17. Is it acceptable for students to eat and drink in the classroom?
18. Do students really come to OSU because of the football team?