<p>TAs and professors do have the responsibility to teach, but I think it’s a different kind of responsibility than the kind expected of say, high school teachers. Professors and TAs are there to relay the information to the students and structure the class in a way that allows people to absorb the information or concepts well. And tabs are kept on things like these, at many schools (Pitt included) students are asked to fill out evaluation sheets on the TA and professor at the end of the semester, and among what we are asked to evaluate and comment on is their communication and teaching ability. </p>
<p>No one said that fluency in English should not be expected, of course it should be (and is). Foreign born TAs should have had a passable score on the TOEFL, their plan of study means they have to be able to write a thesis, communicate with colleagues and professors, and be able to get by in the Pittsburgh area, all in English. So if someone has enough proficiency to do the latter things, it shouldn’t be a stretch for them to have the proficiency to TA a class in English. Maybe they are not going to be the most eloquent and might have an accent or make occasional grammatical mistakes, but that shouldn’t be a big concern of yours if you understand what they are trying to communicate in class to you. </p>
<p>It looks like the general consensus on here by the students is that foreign TAs are not a big problem at Pitt, so agagles needs to calm down. All of the people who are saying it is a problem are parents who are at most speculating, since they’re not the ones sitting in the classrooms.</p>