GTA Proficiency in Spoken English

West Virginia University affirms the basic right of students to receive instruction in clear and understandable spoken English. In addition, one of the educational goals pertaining to graduate students is the enhancement of fluency in spoken English. Thus, English proficiency is vital in providing a high-quality education at WVU. To assure this, the following provisions form the policy on spoken English proficiency pertaining to graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) with student contact.

All WVU units that employ GTAs are required to certify English proficiency of those GTAs with student contact (e.g., class room instructors, lab assistants, tutors) and for whom English is not a native language. Certification may be granted in one of the two following ways:

1. It is to the advantage of the department/unit and to the international graduate student to have taken the Test of Spoken English (TSE) offered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) before arriving at WVU. A minimum TSE score of 50 (on a scale of 20-60) is necessary for certification.
2. For those students unable to complete the TSE before arriving at WVU, departments/units are to arrange to have candidates take the SPEAK (Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit) Test administered by the Department of Foreign Languages during the week prior to the beginning of classes in the fall and spring semesters. A minimum SPEAK Test score of 50 (on a scale of 20-60) is necessary for certification.

In addition to the above test score requirement, departments are encouraged to have the potential GTA deliver a mini-lecture to a selected audience. The audience should include some undergraduate students and persons not familiar with the subject matter of the intended course.

Students who are offered GTAs in advance and, subsequently, are not certified as proficient in spoken English, must be supported for one year and assigned duties (e.g., grading) that do not involve student contact.

Departments offering contracts to international students as GTAs should explicitly specify the conditions of the appointment. These conditions should include statements indicating that:

1. the assignment of teaching responsibilities will be dependent upon achieving certification of proficiency in spoken English;
2. teaching assistants not certified will be required to enroll in a program to help the develop the necessary skills in spoken English; and
3. teaching assistants not certified as proficient in spoken English after one academic year may have their assistantship withdrawn.

Departments should routinely observe the performance of GTAs and counsel and mentor them to improve their teaching skills, including English fluency. GTAs with teaching responsibilities must be evaluated by their students and renewal of the assistantship should take these student evaluations into account.

Should a student or students encounter difficulty in understanding the speech of a GTA, the first recourse for the student(s) is to inform the chairperson of the department. Concerns also can be relayed through the Dean of the college/school or the Office of Graduate Education. Appropriate corrective action, if necessary, should be taken at the departmental level.