Transdisciplinary Approaches to International Teaching Assistant Research within Applied Linguistics

Session Submission Type: Colloquium

Summary

Using a transdisciplinary approach to ITA research, presentations in this colloquium take various perspectives on understanding language use and ITA development that when put in dialogue weave a rich and nuanced picture of ITAs, the contexts in which they work, and the relationship they share with undergraduates at U.S. universities.

Abstract

Almost every research university in the United States has specialized assessment and instructional programs for international teaching assistants (ITAs). Since the late 1980s, a slight but steady stream of research addressing ITAs in United States universities have made evident the complexity of academic discourses and the multilayered nature of ITA-undergraduate interaction.. However, because this research comes out of a variety of fields including but not limited to Speech Communication, TESOL, and Higher Education, it can be inaccessible to ITA practitioners and often lacks a substantial and coherent theoretically informed conceptualization of language, learning, interaction, identity, or teaching. , as recently called for by Gorsuch (2016). Therefore, this panel will draw on the recent reconceptualization of the field of second language acquisition (SLA) as “transdisciplinary” (Douglas Fir Group, 2016). A transdisciplinary approach to ITA research, practice, and policy problematizes what has been called “the ITA Problem” (Williams, 1992) as a mere language problem that can be fixed with remedial ESL courses. The presentations in this colloquium address various perspectives on understanding language use and ITA development, that when combined in one weave a rich and nuanced picture of ITAs, the contexts in which they work, and the relationship they share with undergraduates at U.S. universities. By applying state-of-the-art methodologies and theories relevant in Applied Linguistics, this colloquium provides up-to-date and accessible view of ITA research that appeals to ITA practitioners and researchers, and, more broadly, applied linguists and SLA researchers.

Strand

• Language, Culture, Socialization and Pragmatics (LCS)

Colloquium Papers

• ITAs and Globalization in Higher Education - James Coda, The University of Georgia - LLED

• Affecting Undergraduate Attitudes about ITAs - Meghan Moran Wilson, Northern Arizona University; Okim Kang

• Discourse Intonation and University Lectures - Lucy Pickering, Texas A&M-Commerce

• Discourse Analysis and Office Hour Interactions - Shiaoyun Chiang, State University of New York at Oneonta

• World Englishes and ITA Assessment - Jing Wei, Center for Applied Linguistics

Session Organizers

• Shereen Bhalla, Center for Applied Linguistics

• Stephen Daniel Looney, Penn State University