Closing the Communication Gap Between Undergraduates and International Faculty

This mixed-method study addressed the “foreign TA problem,” reconceptualizing it as the communication gap, an issue created by multiple parties—including bias originating from undergraduates. Experimental sessions measured undergraduates’ comprehension of 2 brief lessonstaught by an international professor. Between lessons, participants completed 1 of 3 short modules: a bias-stimulation module, a control module, or a linguistic-training module (which confronted both accent misunderstanding and accent bias). While training did not affect comprehension, questionnaire responses revealed a positive effect of training on sociolinguistic attitudes. Follow-up discussion sessions explored undergraduates’ experiences with international faculty and responses to the communication gap. Several important themes emerged from these discussions, including effects on academic plans, negative cognitive effects, and a model of undergraduates’ socialization into accent bias. The article concludes with recommendations specifically geared toward TESOL professionals’ ongoing efforts to close the communication gap, including a greater recognition of undergraduates’ role in perpetuating the gap.