For all international students who come from countries where English is not the first language, and who are going to be TAs in their first semester, there is a mandatory 10-day TA development program, conducted in the middle of August. Depending on the evaluation at the end of the program, a student may be assigned to take one or more English or TA development classes. Note that housing is NOT provided during the program, so you will need to arrange it by yourself. However, a stipend of $500 is paid for participation in the program.
In addition to the summer program, the Center for Learning and
Teaching offers EDU 578 course, which focuses on cross cultural
classroom dynamics, teaching techniques, and English proficiency. The
followup course, EDU 579, focuses more on practice of oral English
and pedagogical skills. Those courses are open to all students whos
native language is not English. The up to date information about the
International TA Development Program may be found at
engineering-ta-development/international-ta.cfm">CLICK HERE