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ITA Language Assessment (ILA)

 

International graduate students who have not taken the TOEFL ibt or have received a speaking score below a 28 are required to participate in an ITA Language Assessment (ILA) before beginning any teaching assistantship. The purpose of the 30—minute assessment is to determine an ITA’s level of English proficiency and, once determined, inform ITAs and their departments of required ITAP course work and appropriate teaching assignments. The ILA is designed to enable ITAs to deliver a speech sample that is representative of their true linguistic abilities. It consists of an interview and a brief teaching sample. Students who receive a 28 or above on the TOEFL ibt are exempt from assessment. Departments should arrange for an ILA for ITAs at least one semester before scheduled TA duties. *Please note that this exemption does not apply to the mandatory summer program for incoming ITAs who will TA in their first semester.

The oral proficiency portion of the ILA is conducted using a modified version of the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). The ACTFL OPI is currently used worldwide by academic institutions, government agencies, and private corporations for purposes such as: academic placement, student assessment, program evaluation, professional certification, hiring and promotional qualification. The ACTFL OPI is recognized by the American Council on Education (ACE) for the awarding of college credit. For more information please visit: www.languagetesting.com

ITA Language Assessments (ILAs) Schedule

ITA language assessments (ILAs) are held in the Center For Teaching Excellence, Room 421 CCC (Computing and Communications Center), located on the "Ag Quad" near Bailey, Martha van Rensselaer, Caldwell and Roberts Halls. We are in the same building as the CIT Help Center. Students should fill out a registration download the pdf form and bring it to the assessment. Appointments are only available during the dates listed below.

ITA Language Assessments (ILAs) Schedule
YEAR MONTH DATES WHO
2012 May 8-11, 14 TAs with duties beginning Spring 2013
2012 August 20-24, 27-28 TAs with duties beginning Spring 2013
2012 December 4-7, 10 TAs with duties beginning Fall 2013
2013 January 14-18, 21-22 TAs with duties beginning Fall 2013
2013 May 7-10, 13 TAs with duties beginning Spring 2014
2013 August 19-23, 26-27 TAs with duties beginning Spring 2014
2013 December 10-13, 16 TAs with duties beginning Fall 2014
2014 January 13-17, 20-21 TAs with duties beginning Fall 2014
2014 May 6-9, 12 TAs with duties beginning Spring 2015

Please note: The ITAP is available to conduct ILAs for international graduate students one time only within a 12-month period. Appointments are only available during the dates listed above.


Scheduling an ILA

Cornell's calendaring service has switched from Oracle Calendar to the new Microsoft Exchange system. Exchange Calendar is now the university's central service for scheduling meetings.

To schedule an ILA for the dates listed above invite "itap@cornell.edu" in your Exchange Calendar meeting request. For specific instructions click the links below. We welcome comments, suggestions, or other feedback on the scheduling process. Please email us at itap@cornell.edu.

All interviews are half an hour long and can only be made on the half hour (e.g. 10, 10:30). While scheduling please include the student's name, your department name (or abbreviation) and if needed, the department or faculty representative's name that will attend the assessment.

Appointments are only available during the dates listed above: ITA Language Assessments (ILAs) Schedule.

All meetings must be accepted and confirmed by the ITAP. If your suggestion is denied, the ITAP will contact you via email or phone about another time. The ITAP will respond to you only as needed. No response (or an accepted meeting in Exchange calendar) means your ILA is scheduled.

Please do not doublebook entries.

If you have any questions about scheduling please contact the ITAP at itap@cornell.edu.

For training on how to use Exchange calendar, including free, 90-minute workshops, please visit the CIT website: Exchange Calendar support

Scheduling an ILA using Outlook 2007 (Windows)

  1. In any calendar view, click New.
  2. In the Untitled - Appointment window, fill in the Subject (ILA: Student Name & Department) and Location (CCC 421).
  3. Click Scheduling Assistant in the toolbar. The appointment window will change to show a side-scrolling calendar. You can jump quickly to any date by clicking that date on the mini-calendar at the upper right. Appointments are only available during the dates listed above: ITA Language Assessments (ILAs) Schedule.
  4. Add itap@cornell.edu to the invitation by clicking Add Attendees near the bottom of the window, which opens the Select Attendees dialog box. Make sure Global Address List is selected in the Address Book drop-down list.
  5. After you've added ITAP, the color of the time block in the All Attendees row shows you if ITAP has a scheduling conflict at that time. (Blue means busy, purple is "not available") The Suggested Times box at the right shows the best times for the day you've selected.
  6. Either click on a time in the Suggested Times box or click (or drag) on a column in the main display to select a time.
  7. Click Appointment in the toolbar to return to the scheduling view. The Date, Start time, and End time fields will show what you selected. The To will show ITAP.
  8. The meeting will now appear on your calendar.
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Scheduling an ILA using Entourage 2008 (Macintosh)

  1. In any calendar view, click New.
  2. In the New Event - Calendar dialog box, click Invite in the toolbar. An addressing pane (just like the one you see when creating an email message) will open. Type in itap@cornell.edu. Press Tab to accept the displayed address and move to another line. Press Enter to close the addressing pane. To return to the addressing pane, just click on the entries in the Invite field.
  3. When you're done adding names, click the Scheduling tab in the middle of the <Event Name> - Calendar window.
  4. You'll see a scrollable calendar showing the Free/Busy status of everyone you're inviting. To set or change the date and/or time for your proposed meeting, use the Start and End fields in the top part of the window. The times entered in those fields will show as a shaded rectangle in the scrollable calendar. Appointments are only available during the dates listed above: ITA Language Assessments (ILAs) Schedule.
  5. Finish filling out the Subject (ILA: Student Name & Department) and Location (CCC 421) fields, and include information on an attending faculty member.
  6. Click Send Now in the toolbar.
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Scheduling an ILA using Outlook Web Access (via your web browser)

  1. On the menu, click Calendar.
  2. In the Calendar page, click New Meeting Request in the toolbar. An addressing pane (just like the one you see when creating an email message) will open. Type in itap@cornell.edu. Press Tab to accept the displayed address and move to another line.
  3. Finish filling out the Subject (ILA: Student Name & Department) and Location (CCC 421) fields, and include information on an attending faculty member.
  4. When you're done adding names, click the Scheduling Assistant tab at the top of the Calendar window.
  5. You'll see a scrollable calendar showing the Free/Busy status of everyone you're inviting. To set or change the date and/or time for your proposed meeting, use the Start and End times in the left column of the window. Appointments are only available during the dates listed above: ITA Language Assessments (ILAs) Schedule.
  6. Click Send.
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Scheduling an ILA using iCal 4 (Macintosh)

Information available soon; We welcome comments, suggestions, or other feedback on the scheduling process. Please email us at itap@cornell.edu.

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