<p>A common complaint of many students is that their professors are difficult to understand or have trouble communicating because they do not speak English fluently. I'm not talking about an accent that students can become adjusted to after a few days - I'm talking about real language problems. </p>
<p>What do you have to say about this???</p>
<p>Absolutely, yes. I believe that if a class is taught in English, then the teacher’s English should be easily understood. </p>
<p>That reminded me of this story: When I was in college, I had a professor with Bell’s Palsy (facial paralysis) who was so difficult to understand, but no one wanted to complain. We would record the class and play it back and try to decipher what some of the words were, sometimes to no avail. :(</p>
<p>Actually, Professors and TAs already have to do this at most schools I know of. </p>
<p>Moreover, most of the complaints IME tend to come from students trying to excuse their inability to prioritize their studies over partying/beer, lack of aptitude, and/or even latent issues with racism. </p>
<p>The most extreme case of the last was a negative online review of one Prof at an Ivy accusing her of having a strong “foreign accent” and having difficulties keeping up as a result. Funny part…I actually met that Prof several times and find that accusation odd considering she’s American-born and I never heard any trance of it. However, she does have a “foreign look” being Asian-American. </p>
<p>This correlation has become so commonplace IME that I tend to assume anyone complaining of a Professor’s “foreign accent” is doing so to avoid acknowledging that the real reasons for poor/failing performance was really self-inflicted unless they prove otherwise. </p>
<p>I’m also of the view that having to deal with Profs/TAs with foreign accents is good training for the real world as you may need to work with colleagues, clients, and collaborators on projects whose English proficiency is far worse than what you’d see among university faculty/TAs…or practically non-existent.</p>
<p>It is one thing to have to deal with this issue in the “real world” when you have already obtained a good understanding of the knowledge required in your field ( isn’t that why you go to college) yet quite another when going to school and first learning. I am sure there are those you describe but there absolutely should be a requirement that professors are capable of communicating effectively in the classroom. A great deal of money is spent going to college to learn and you shouldn’t have to teach yourself because your professor can’t effectively relay his knowledge. Even 30 yrs ago I had a very difficult time in some science courses because of this issue.</p>
<p>“The most extreme case of the last was a negative online review of one Prof at an Ivy accusing her of having a strong “foreign accent” and having difficulties keeping up as a result. Funny part…I actually met that Prof several times and find that accusation odd considering she’s American-born and I never heard any trance of it. However, she does have a “foreign look” being Asian-American.”</p>
<p>Back when I was teaching, a similar complaint was made against one of my colleagues, who is Mexican-American. Yeah, he is also from Iowa and has a more “standard” American than I do (being southern).</p>
<p>some students have difficulty understanding different accents that are American too!! </p>
<p>Most professors/ teachers that I have met with a strong accent understand that their accent may be a barrier, and have no problems with a student asking them to clarify something they do not understand.</p>
<p>I have definitely encountered college profs or TAs I couldn’t understand, and it was horrible. With my coworkers with strong accents, communication is much easier because in a small group situation, you can always ask for clarification. In a lecture hall with a couple hundred people, you can’t.</p>
<p>S2, 4.9 GPA, told us last night that he had switched chemistry sections because he couldn’t understand the non-native English speaking prof. He’s taking 18 credits with two labs, is playing with a band and is working two afternoons a week. He said doesn’t have time it try to figure out what the prof was trying to say. Of the kids I know who complain and/or switch out of courses, all have been excellent students. The complaints are overwhelmingly linked to STEM classes. </p>
<p>When H was an undergraduate he had a prof who was giving examples using the term “el-bees”. Nobody in the class could figure out what the prof was talking about… As it turns out, he was talking about pounds. El-bees…lbs. This is now a favorite family term. “Honey, could you pick up a couple el-bees of hamburger?”</p>
<p>Love the el-bees! That’s why we encourage any profs with an accent to use powerpoint or some other tool to clarify. (Come to think of it, my accent is easily understood where I teach, and I often use ppt just to make sure students have the vocabulary correct.) I would think oral and written fluency would be a fundamental prerequisite for the job, at least at a teaching institution. I suspect there’s more leeway in a research institution, but if you’re going to put people into the classroom, they need to demonstrate competence.</p>
<p>Sheesh, I have a true genius of a son with his 4.9 GPA!.. </p>
<p>He has a 3.9.</p>
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<p>There is a world of difference between working with foreigners in a professional environment and having to deal with EDUCATORS who are not entirely fluent in English. </p>
<p>Be it full professors or TAs, it is a disgrace and something that students should not have to deal with unless the universities offer a cheaper version of their classes. Like that will ever happen! In the meantime, there will be plenty of apologists who will blame the “dumb” Americans for not understanding foreign accents. Excusing poor teaching is a national passtime in the United States.</p>
<p>Students should vote with their feet.</p>
<p>I typically have no problems understanding non-native English speaking peoples in my jobs, however, I did drop a class in grad school because I could not understand at all what the prof was saying…so frustrating so yes, I think anyone teaching in a college setting should be screened in the classroom setting for the ability of others to understand what they are saying.</p>
<p>I do think sometimes profs and esp. TAs are hired whose English isn’t really good enough. OTOH I remember that my first day in architectural history I though I’d never understand the professor’s strong Austrian accent. He ended up being my favorite prof. I took every course he offered and had him for my thesis advisor.</p>
<p>This is one of the top reasons why my kids won’t go to a large public research university. I went to a top research university for undergraduate, and this was a huge problem for me. Not just in sciences, it was also a problem in business school classes. LACs all the way for my kids – small class sizes and no classes taught by foreign TAs who somehow fudged their way through the TOEFL.</p>
<p>He’s not a prof, but my H has a heavy, heavy accent, and his job requires (essentially) he deliver a lecture a week to a large crowd. I’ve been married to the man almost 25 years and sometimes he leaves me with a blank look on my face and a “huh?” on my lips. </p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t know how you tell with certainty who can’t speak the language and who just has a thick accent. The palate hardens mid-teens, after which certain sound combinations simply can’t be made.</p>
<p>I think some people have an “ear” for accents, and others do not. I fall into the “do not” category. I have a terrible time understanding some English speakers (even from England!) if they have an accent. OTH, my H is very good at understanding accents, and also imitating them (maybe there is a connection?). I once met an English-speaking man from Tasmania and I couldn’t understand a word he said! I was very embarrassed and just kept nodding at everything he said.</p>
<p>Honestly folks, what any one of us thinks, or what the whole lot of us could come to agreement on does not matter one bit. The university departments that hire these people are the only ones who have any say in this. The best we can do as parents is encourage our children to develop strategies for coping with unintelligible college and university instructors.</p>
<p>Adding: Obviously, because of my limitations, I fall into the category of people who are opposed to hiring profs/TAs who cannot speak English without a heavy accent. It constitutes a failure to deliver the promised product - a quality education.</p>
<p>So why do colleges hire them? Is a speaking test even considered?</p>
<p>They hire them because the priority is never on the quality of education offered to undergraduates. University administrators and senior faculty members who make hiring decisions and graduate school admissions decisions simply don’t care about teaching ability at all, much less about English fluency. The priority is always research and credentials. This is especially true at research universities, but also at some so-called LACs.</p>