All students whose first language is not English and who are admitted to graduate studies at Michigan State University with teaching assistantships involving recitations, discussions, or laboratory sections will be given the MSU Speaking Test by the English Language Center either remotely or upon arrival on campus.
MSU candidates for TA appointments who were required to demonstrate English proficiency as a condition for regular admission to Michigan State University must also demonstrate that they meet a minimum standard of proficiency in spoken English before they can be assigned teaching work that involves oral communication with undergraduate students. Those ITAs who received a waiver of the TOEFL or of other accepted tests of English proficiency for admission, must also meet the requirement of proficiency in spoken English before they are assigned to teaching work that involves oral communication with undergraduate students. To meet this requirement, those International Teaching Assistants (ITAs) may use any of these four options: (1) presenting a valid TOEFL iBT speaking section score of 27 or higher; (2) receiving a score of 50 or higher on the MSU Speaking Test; (3) presenting a valid IELTS Speaking score of 8.0 or higher; (4) successfully completing AAE 451 or AAE 452 (ITA language support courses) AND receiving a score of 50 or higher on the ITA Oral Interaction Test (ITAQI).
The chairperson of the student's teaching assignment department may request an appeal by the International Teaching Assistant Appeals Committee if the student does not pass the initial screening. The Board determines whether the student may be cleared for teaching duties and whether any conditions should be placed on their appointment. If the student fails to pass the minimum all–University standard of English proficiency for regular admission status, and they do not receive a waiver from the Appeals Committee, they may not be assigned to do any classroom teaching, including laboratory instruction and recitation or discussion sections, without approval of the English Language Center. Units may hold a higher–than–minimum performance criterion if they so choose if the content and/or the teaching models warrant.
See Costs in the General Information, Policies, Procedures and Regulations section and English Language Center in the College of Arts and Letters section of this catalog for additional information.