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Show The Daily Utah Chronicle CAMPUS LIFE 6 The Daily Utah Chronicle Friday, March 12, 1999 Christy Karras, Feature Editor: c.karraschronicle.utah.edu QBE ID Adam Olson Chronicle Feature Writer early one out of four teaching El assistants at the University of rVw c F U J LUll r m r J frrrv II VIII rnfcirlr lilt. United States. So it's not uncom mon for a typical undergraduate to find him- - or herself enrolled in a class, lab or discussion group taught by someone whose first language isn't English. A 1998 study conducted by the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence showed that 162 or 22 percent of approximately 725 teaching assistants at the U were International Teaching Assistants (ITAs). g l TTr-iV- i V. W 111 W This represents a mixed blessing, according to Professor Steven Sternfeld, who works closely with the ITAs. "They bring a wonderful diversity of culture and teaching styles to the university," he said. "But, there is tremendous bias here. It doesn't matter how well the ITAs speak English." "Students have had a tendency to blame an ITA's accent if the student receives a poor grade," said Diane coordinator for ITAs. "And that reputation spreads." "The only way the ITAs get here is by being very good," Sternfeld said. "But their fear is that they won't be accepted for who they are." Cot-sona- s, The Program In an effort to both increase an ITA's ability to teach effectively and foster understanding on the part of the students, the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE) created the Teaching and Learning Across Cultures Workshop. The program has two parts. First, new ITAs enroll in a training workshop designed to prepare them for teaching. Second, undergraduates sign up for either Linguistics or ESL 3600: Intercul-tura- l Communication, a three credit-hou- r class taught by Sternfeld that both fulfills the diversity requirement and serves as a pre-servi- ce humanities integration course. Listed in the course catalog for summer semester, the workshop actually runs only two weeks, from August 9 to August 20, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For most of the first week, the two groups meet separately. During that time the ITAs are taught techniques for the American classroom and receive a cultural orientation. "When the ITAs get here, the only teaching experience they have to draw on is the type of classroom they came from," Sternfeld said. "The classroom here in America is different from anywhere in the world." The classes combine Friday of the first at for Break Ideas the Stay-Spring Editor's Note: This is the second of two stories on spring break activities for those who can't actually go anywhere. is a wonderful time year. Birds are singing, waiting for his fairy or godmother fairy godfather to show up and give him free tickets to the Alannis Morisette concert and a lifetime supply of pizza. Oh, sweet are ringing and bees dreams! break Spring going to be back wherever they want to be. I am nothing more than a poor arc.wcll, bees arc doing whatever they usually do. This is my first spring break here at the University of Utah, so it should prove to be rather interesting. First off, I'm going to be here in this wonderful and exciting metropolis that is always bubbling with events (like a cauldron that's been on the fire too long is my sarcasm flowing here?). I'm going to be stuck in the residence halls when everyone else is Maybe my fairy ne will turn up. Or maybe I'll just sleep. servant-bo- y My plan this spring break is to be the ultimate cheapskate. Many of you already know that on Tuesdays all shows in the movie theaters cost $3.50. My master plan is to watch as many movies as I can on the Tuesday during spring break. Of course, this does not compensate for the extreme boredom that will prevail for the rest of the time, but at least I will have the knowledge that I had done what no man had ever done before. Prakash Choraria So, maybe your spring break isn't panning out to be much. Perhaps you won't be able to get out of town, or maybe your mean professors assigned you a bunch of homework and, like a wimp, you're going to take it and do it, despite the fact that the aforesaid homework is a gross violation of your rights and you should stand up and say, "No!" to it. Or maybe you forgot to get off work, or you're plumb broke and you'll be looking for some overtime. Please allow me to implore you to do something unique anyway. Just because you're stuck here doesn't mean it has to be business as usual. It doesn't matter what exactly you do; just get out there and be a little creative. , Always wanted to get drunk but haven't quite known when to get -- Homers around to it? Now's your chance. Ever wished you could get up the chance, to go to a bar and proposition a stranger? Go for it. On a less tacky (but still adventurous) note, there seriously must be something you've always wanted to get around to doing. Maybe you want to learn swing dancing. Perhaps you've always wanted to check out the zoo. Maytfe you've never skied or snowboarded before and you're tired of being made fun of for it. And there's always "War and Peace." I'm one of the lucky ones. I'll be heading down south and going camping, like many do every year for spring break. I'll see you there. Christy Karras |