Teachers Who Can't Speak English

4,914 Views | 9 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by Ulrich
ro828
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The details in this will be vague, for obvious reasons. A family member is taking an academic class "taught" by a person who speaks almost no English.

In business, the customer is supposedly always right. But it looks to me as if in the world of higher education the student, who is paying to take the class, does not have the reasonable expectation to have an instructor standing at the front of the classroom who can speak intelligibly. As is, maybe one word out of twenty gets through. At the last class meeting, the family member caught what may have been "molecule" but that may not have been the case.

It would seem that nobody in the ivory tower of Administration ever sits in on classes.

What think the mighty minds of Texags?
redd38
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AG
That professor probably brings in more dollars from research grants than your family member pays in tuition. So the customer may always be right, your family member just isn't the right customer.
histag10
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AG
Chances are good that this isnt the professors first class. Meaning that not every student who has ever taken their class failed (pretty sure administration would look into that).


Maybe the issue isnt with the professor, but with the student? I took many classes by professors who did not speak English as a first language, and while the language barrier was difficult at times, as long as I made an effort (go to office hours, seek out a tutor, read the materials), I never had a major issue with it.

As an aside- I deal with faculty at TAMU on a daily basis, and I have never encountered an instance where I could not make out what a non native English speaker was saying.

I apologize for my "rant", but it often seems as if people are quick to point fingers at the University without ever knowing the other side. I would suggest having your family member (assuming child or sibling) record their lecture so you can hear the other side.
The Dog Lord
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AG
I've never had an experience that significant. Usually the instructor just had a heavy accent or would say things slightly differently than a native speaker.

If the issue is as bad as you say, the student can always discuss it with the department chair. They may ask them to pursue some of the options Histag suggested though.

As a side note, I'm glad that many businesses are moving away from the "customer is always right" idea. That is clearly not the case. I'd rather lose one customer that may have already made up their mind anyway than have my employees treated like **** for no reason.
Nosh
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The OP never said it was a prof. It may very well be a graduate student serving as a TA. In any case, I would contact the dept head or the dean of academic affairs. Further, discuss this with the faculty senate as this has been an ongoing agenda item for them. The rebuttal from some faculty has been that their accents are no different from deep East Texas drawl in terms of difficulty in understanding.

Faculty Senate Office at (979) 458-1014 or senate@tamu.edu.
expresswrittenconsent
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Fire up the helicopter..........
agracer
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AG
People who were in engineering laugh at the notion we have some complaint about professors not speaking engrish....
chickencoupe16
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AG
I had a Chinese professor that a lot of people complained about not understanding. She was a little difficult at times but I never thought it was ever bad. I mean people whined and moaned. In the end, the people that whined were just making excuses for their bad grades.

ETA: weird thread bump...
CrottyKid
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AG
If you prefer teaching ability over research ability, don't go to an R1 university. The professors at an R1 are there to conduct research. On the side, they share their knowledge a little bit.

A smaller, teaching oriented university employs faculty whose main concern is teaching.
TexasAggie81
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CrottyKid said:

If you prefer teaching ability over research ability, don't go to an R1 university. The professors at an R1 are there to conduct research. On the side, they share their knowledge a little bit.

A smaller, teaching oriented university employs faculty whose main concern is teaching.


This ... unfortunately.
Ulrich
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In my day, we weren't unhappy about getting professors who didn't speak English, we were happy about getting a professor who did.
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