English for Academic Purposes

Learn strategies to take notes during academic lectures, participate in group and class discussions, increase listening comprehension and vocabulary, and improve test-taking skills.

Improve reading skills, vocabulary expression,  organization of ideas, fluency through writing academic essays and engaging in group and class discussions, and editing. Prepares students for academic writing and ENG 1110 First Year Writing.

Graduate students teaching undergraduate courses must first pass this course before the teaching assignment begins. Students will organize and deliver lectures, understand American class culture, and improve the pronunciation of words in their field and clarity in speaking. (Non-credit, Graduate Students only).

The Seminar for International Teaching Assistants helps prepare foreign-born graduate students whose first language is not English for a teaching assignment. It includes presentation skills common in the U.S., language training for clarity and projection, strategies to facilitate teaching, and classroom management. The course consists of:

• Discussion of cultural differences in education and methodology.
• Teaching skills: presenting ideas, organizing lectures, using the blackboard efficiently, offering relevant examples, improving audience awareness, and dealing with disrespectful behavior. Feedback of teaching practice is provided from instructor, peers, and self.
• Strategies to facilitate communication: interacting with students, implementing organizational cues, paraphrasing terms, and asking and rephrasing questions
• Accent modification to improve projection and clarity of ideas and intentions: word stress, rhythm, focus stress, intonation, and tone, as well as an overview of pronunciation of vowels and consonants in American English.
• Short research writing that covers paraphrasing and avoiding plagiarism.
• Practice and preparation outside of class, which includes planning short teaching lessons, writing self-feedback, language practice and recordings, a class observation, and an interview with an experienced TA or instructor

This two-hour, non-credit course is required for teaching assistants whose native language is not English. Students have the option of taking the course for three hours if needed for visa status. A course grade (not computed) is earned based upon teaching presentations, class participation, and completion of assignments. There is no charge for the course. Students may request exemption from this requirement with the instructor. Exemption from EAP courses does not extend to that of EAP 5400.

Upon completion of the course, each student will present a 20-minute lesson that is evaluated for comprehensibility of both teaching skills and language skills. A panel consisting of the instructor and one or more undergraduate students determine whether the student is ready to teach an undergraduate course alone or whether further training is required.

According to Missouri law, graduate students whose first language is not English must be tested for their ability to communicate orally in English in a classroom setting. This ruling was stated in 1986 and was adopted by the Missouri State Legislature and the University of Missouri Board Of Curators. The Missouri law requires ITAs to receive linguistic and cultural training prior to beginning a teaching assignment in which they teach alone in a classroom. Graduate students who did not attend elementary school and high school in a country in which English is the first language may not hold a teaching appointment during their first semester of higher education in the state of Missouri and must receive cultural training before beginning a teaching assignment.