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Publication Date

3-1-2005

Abstract

Graduate teaching assistant (GTA) training is integral to the successful operation of introductory foreign language (FL) classes at many post-secondary institutions. Addressing the improvement of GTA supervision and the overall quality of introductory-level language classes, this study consists first of an overview of the most current practices in GTA training in the United States. The second part of the article presents the parameters of the qualitative study on GTAs in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of South Carolina-Columbia (USC Columbia). The study itself consists of the following: (1) peer observations of GTAs, in which the GTAs pay particular attention to specific teaching points during each observation, with each observation taking place after the authors discuss a specific teaching point in the required methodology classes; (2) interactive group discussions based on peer observations via an electronic bulletin board; and (3) an initial questionnaire, a reflective essay, and a final survey used to collect data regarding how the GTAs’ views on teaching had evolved over the semester. The third section of the article is the analysis of the collected data. The conclusion considers the results obtained in the study and the application of those results to the improvement of GTA training and subsequently the teaching of university-level introductory FL classes.

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