The bus stops here...
So this summer I went to get some tires put on in a Walmart, and I overheard a conversation which took place between two guys in the waiting room, and it went a little somethin' like this:
Guy A: That disgusts me. (pointing)
Guy B: What?
Guy A: Those flyers on the wall. They should learn to speak English.
Guy B: Oh, the rights?
Guy A: Yeah. Man, them f****ng Mexicans are always breakin' the law and ****. I tell you what, we never know who the **** is in our country.
Guy B: Man, I tell you what, those people are comin' in, stealing our jobs, and they're willing to work for anything. $5.15's like a ****ing fortune in their country.
Guy A: Yeah, and they always get away with breakin' the law.
Guy B: What do you mean?
Guy A: Man, they can hit your car, and the police can't do nothing about it, because they don't have no ID or no insurance, so the police just let them go.
Guy B: That's f***ed up.
Guy A: When I came to this country, I guarantee you I had to learn this language. If I can learn it, they can too.
Guy B: Amen.
Guy A: Yeah, and we don't keep track of 'em. I'll tell you this much: Hitler was a bad person, but he kept track of his own house...
Guy B: Yeah...
editor's note: This conversation did take place... months ago... this is the jist of it. It was actually much longer.
And I thought to myself, "that sounds like something else I know..."
One of the things I've been most pleased with since I came to Ohio State is the patent unwillingness of the graduate students here to "throw the international TA's under the bus." I'm pleased with this turn of events for two main reasons; one of which is the fact that a majority of our class is indeed international. The other reason (our own stupidity) is something I'll elaborate on.
American college students are, by and large, opinionated idiots. I say this realizing that I'm one of them; so, being one of them, I feel partially qualified to analyze their main, defining characteristic- that of unconscionable stupidity.
One of the main problems (benefits) with (of) college is that people are, by and large, allowed to find friends that share their same views. Unlike high school, where people sort of have to curtail their personal views on a subject to stay within acceptable norms, college is the apex of "free-flow of ideas." And it's great in that aspect; however, it's also horrible in that aspect. Confused? Consider this: while many people are coming up with enriching, original ways of solving problems, are overlapping their cultures by interacting with others, and are benefitting society with a unique world view, others are, well, not doing those things. Those "others" are exacerbating poorly held views, enforcing stereotypes, and generally making life unpleasant for those who are progressing in a suitable manner. Oh, and these people probably don't show up to class half the time either.
To illustrate a point: the facebook group "Those Who Believe That Professors and T.A.'s Should Be Fluent In English" has 2088 members.
I'm not saying that English proficiency isn't a priority, but I am saying that for classes that involve math (which, I feel, comprise the majority of classes that international TA's teach), English isn't the highest priority. That's right, it's math. I would feel a whole lot worse if my "Math for Economists" TA could speak fluent English, but couldn't do math then if he could do math, but not speak English. By the way, C.J.'s English: not bad! After all, anyone can write a number, and if you're in college, you should sort of be able to follow the steps.
Now, I've made fun of international teachers who couldn't speak English well; as I said before, I'm an "opinionated idiot." I'm also learning; in fact, I've learned. Competency reigns supreme.
At Louisville, I often wondered if I could do better than some of the professors for introductory principles classes. I finally came to the conclusion that I would be a suitable "one-shot fill-in," but I would be an inadequate replacement. In the same light, TA's are hardly expert teachers, as they don't often have the range of knowledge needed to arbitrarily dictate class discussion. So, I think going for the next best thing is a good idea, and this happens to be competency in the discipline. And there are fewer students who are more competent than international students.
Guy A: That disgusts me. (pointing)
Guy B: What?
Guy A: Those flyers on the wall. They should learn to speak English.
Guy B: Oh, the rights?
Guy A: Yeah. Man, them f****ng Mexicans are always breakin' the law and ****. I tell you what, we never know who the **** is in our country.
Guy B: Man, I tell you what, those people are comin' in, stealing our jobs, and they're willing to work for anything. $5.15's like a ****ing fortune in their country.
Guy A: Yeah, and they always get away with breakin' the law.
Guy B: What do you mean?
Guy A: Man, they can hit your car, and the police can't do nothing about it, because they don't have no ID or no insurance, so the police just let them go.
Guy B: That's f***ed up.
Guy A: When I came to this country, I guarantee you I had to learn this language. If I can learn it, they can too.
Guy B: Amen.
Guy A: Yeah, and we don't keep track of 'em. I'll tell you this much: Hitler was a bad person, but he kept track of his own house...
Guy B: Yeah...
editor's note: This conversation did take place... months ago... this is the jist of it. It was actually much longer.
And I thought to myself, "that sounds like something else I know..."
One of the things I've been most pleased with since I came to Ohio State is the patent unwillingness of the graduate students here to "throw the international TA's under the bus." I'm pleased with this turn of events for two main reasons; one of which is the fact that a majority of our class is indeed international. The other reason (our own stupidity) is something I'll elaborate on.
American college students are, by and large, opinionated idiots. I say this realizing that I'm one of them; so, being one of them, I feel partially qualified to analyze their main, defining characteristic- that of unconscionable stupidity.
One of the main problems (benefits) with (of) college is that people are, by and large, allowed to find friends that share their same views. Unlike high school, where people sort of have to curtail their personal views on a subject to stay within acceptable norms, college is the apex of "free-flow of ideas." And it's great in that aspect; however, it's also horrible in that aspect. Confused? Consider this: while many people are coming up with enriching, original ways of solving problems, are overlapping their cultures by interacting with others, and are benefitting society with a unique world view, others are, well, not doing those things. Those "others" are exacerbating poorly held views, enforcing stereotypes, and generally making life unpleasant for those who are progressing in a suitable manner. Oh, and these people probably don't show up to class half the time either.
To illustrate a point: the facebook group "Those Who Believe That Professors and T.A.'s Should Be Fluent In English" has 2088 members.
I'm not saying that English proficiency isn't a priority, but I am saying that for classes that involve math (which, I feel, comprise the majority of classes that international TA's teach), English isn't the highest priority. That's right, it's math. I would feel a whole lot worse if my "Math for Economists" TA could speak fluent English, but couldn't do math then if he could do math, but not speak English. By the way, C.J.'s English: not bad! After all, anyone can write a number, and if you're in college, you should sort of be able to follow the steps.
Now, I've made fun of international teachers who couldn't speak English well; as I said before, I'm an "opinionated idiot." I'm also learning; in fact, I've learned. Competency reigns supreme.
At Louisville, I often wondered if I could do better than some of the professors for introductory principles classes. I finally came to the conclusion that I would be a suitable "one-shot fill-in," but I would be an inadequate replacement. In the same light, TA's are hardly expert teachers, as they don't often have the range of knowledge needed to arbitrarily dictate class discussion. So, I think going for the next best thing is a good idea, and this happens to be competency in the discipline. And there are fewer students who are more competent than international students.
posted by mike at 8:53 PM
4 Comments:
Well said, Michael.
I do remember this, and, in fact, it was an inspiration. The class in question for Mr. Yates was, in fact, College Algebra.
Not bad, Mike. Not bad at all.
Did you know?
Did you know that because American students would rather have American TA's for labs and recitations foreign students carry most of the burden for grading? Did you know that preparing for and teaching a lab or recitation as a rule is more time consuming and harder to do in tandem with research? Did you know that this slows the progress of qualified American students through grad school? Just a funny emergent property of the system that I thought you should know about.
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