About ALS 5790

Who can participate? | Registration information | Learning outcomes

The International Teaching Assistant Program (ITAP) supports all multilingual graduate students who are currently teaching or plan to teach in the future. Designed as a follow-up to ITAP’s foundational course, ALS 5790 involves highly interactive seminars, consultations with the instructor, and the development of a personalized set of language priorities to help students expand their spoken English proficiency. This course is designed to assist students who are working towards meeting the Language Proficiency requirement for teaching at Cornell University.

It is a 2-credit course graded on an S/U basis. The prerequisite for ALS 5790 is ALS 5780. 

Who can participate?

ALS 5790 is open to graduate international teaching assistants who have already taken ALS 5780, and who need additional support to reach advanced low English language oral proficiency.

Enrollment in ALS 5790 requires instructor approval and ALS 5780 is a pre-requisite. I f you are eligible to take ALS 5790, ITAP will contact you prior to the start of the semester. Please contact the ITAP team for more information.

Registration information

Dates: Fall and spring semester course sections are offered.

Times: Please check the Student Center for semester course offerings. Within the Student Center, scroll down to see all available section days/times.

Graduate students register for ALS 5790 via the Student Center. Please note that section spaces fill quickly, so pre-registration and early registration are encouraged. Because the course is designed to offer interactive practice in oral English proficiency, it is not possible to audit the course.

Learning outcomes

Through participation in ALS 5780 and 5790, students will:

• Narrate and describe in major time frames- past, present, and future 
• Engage in conversation about topics of personal and general interest/current events 
• Clearly communicate ideas so they can be easily understood by others who are not accustomed to interacting with non-native speakers  
• Speak in paragraphs, using connected discourse 
• Identify and prioritize areas of personal strengths and areas for growth related to language proficiency, and engage in corresponding self-directed, targeted practice 

For additional support, please contact ITAP or speak directly to your instructor.