Resources

Academic English Speaking and Writing

This terrific site from Monash University in Australia has everything you need for research and writing. There are resources for studying, writing assignments, samples of assignments and different kinds of writing from different fields (e.g., lab reports in engineering, poster presentations in education, etc.), thesis writing, and the publication process.

Academic Phrasebank

This site from the University of Manchester in the UK is your new best friend! There are hundreds of useful phrases that can be used for academic writing and speaking (e.g., introducing research questions, presenting data, discussing findings, etc.).

Verbal Stratagems

Looking for more variety in your spoken English—particularly for situations at school? This site offers short phrases for situations such as giving feedback, disagreeing, expressing gratitude and includes audio of a native speaker. Thanks to Dr. Barbara Imber and Carson Maynard at the University of Michigan for this excellent site.

Purdue’s Online Writing Lab (OWL)

This is the “grand daddy” of all online writing labs! Here you will find information on everything from citation guides, grammar usage in writing, tips for second language speakers of English, samples of cover letters and resumes, etc. An excellent resource for students and professors alike.

Special Resources for the STEM Fields

MIT Communication Lab CommKits

Find links to specific communication resources (e.g., research articles, cover letters, poster presentations, etc.) for your discipline. Created for engineers by engineers, and useful for most related STEM fields.

Handbook for Spoken Mathematics

Do you teach math or a subject that requires a lot of math? If so, this resource will show you the English needed so that you can explain the special symbols and numbers needed in mathematics. There is no audio here, but the explanations are still very useful.

Khan Academy

This site features hundreds of video lessons in math, science, and several other fields. This is usually used as a resource for English speaking students (grade school through university), however international TAs will find lots of useful teaching language for explaining difficult concepts. Transcripts and subtitles are also available.

MIT School of Engineering Communication Labs

Excellent resource for written and spoken communication in engineering

Teaching in the United States

Teaching in America: A Guide for International Faculty

International teaching assistants and faculty at Harvard University discuss their experiences of teaching in the U.S.

Program for Instructional Excellence TA Handbook

This handbook for TAs offers an overview of the support available for FSU TAs and well as policies and best practices.

Program for Instructional Excellence (PIE) Workshops at FSU

Come join fellow TAs and instructors discuss strategies and techniques that promote excellence in teaching and learning.

MERLOT II

MERLOT is a curated collection of free and open online teaching, learning, and faculty development services contributed and used by an international education community. Look under "Search MERLOT" for resources.

Pronunciation and Listening

Rachel’s English

This excellent site has hundreds of videos demonstrating specific sounds as well as other pronunciation features such as reduced speech (e.g., gonna), stress patterns, and intonation. There are also many videos to help you with everyday vocabulary, conversation, and pronunciation for job interviews and phone calls.

Youglish

Type in a word or phrase, select the kind of English you want (US, UK, or Australian) and you Youglish will show you hundreds of video clips in which your word or phrase is spoken. This allows you to hear how native speakers pronounce a word within a sentence.

American Rhetoric

A database of full text, audio and video version of public speeches, sermons, legal proceedings, lectures, interviews, etc.

English Page Listening Resources

This page has links to both US and British radio programs-great for listening practice.