Training for TAs

Abstract

i n many foreign language departments, the elemen tary and intermediate level language courses are taught by graduate students. In this article, I present the pro gram offered by the French Department at the Univer sity of Virginia to instruct new teaching assistants in the methods of language teaching. This program, which in cludes a pre-semester workshop, in-semester practicum, and observation procedure, coordinates with the graduate students' advanced courses and their research. It benefits the teaching assistants, their students, and, ultimately, the entire department through increased enrollments at all levels. A well-qualified faculty member, designated as language coordinator, must assume responsibility for the training program. To temper and substantiate theoretical knowledge, the coordinator must possess a substantial amount of experience as a language teacher. New teachers require instruction in every aspect of teaching, from using a grade book and understanding group dynamics to presenting new grammar forms and drilling old ones. They can generally handle the mechanical details of good classroom management with just a little direction, but they require detailed instruc tion in the actual methods of language teaching. To learn how to teach a language, the new instructors need in-class training in the fundamentals of the techniques used, observation of experienced teachers, and con structive supervision. In an ideal situation, all new graduate students would receive fellowships or scholarships. During their first