In a study at Memphis State University (Tennessee), international students training as teaching assistants were taught the importance of discourse markers and other techniques for communicating in the classroom. The discourse markers are verbal cues that serve important pedagogical functions such as separating ideas, indicating temporal relationships and causation, and providing emphasis and contrast. They are characteristic of teacher talk, and improve the clarity and effectiveness of pedagogical communication. Students were also taught other ways of integrating teacher talk into the curriculum, including speed of speech, style of presentation, formal rhetorical structure, longer periods of speech without interruption, specific kinds of body language, use of props such as the chalkboard, and phrases commonly used by teachers. Early in the training programs, each subject was videotaped presenting a 7-minute explanation of a term from his discipline. After instruction, subjects were videotaped again, presenting the same explanation but with integration of teacher talk. Results indicate the effectiveness of the training. A 15-item bibliography is included. (MSE) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original doct.ment. *********************************************************************** ITA "Teacher Talk"--Discourse Markers as Guideposts to Learning Teresa Dalle and Margaret Inglis Research into the variables affecting ITAs' (International Teaching Assistants') classroom skills indicates that the speech of the colle6e classroom is unique, not really equivalent to textbook or to social discourse (Ard, 1989). Classroom discourse, or "teacher talk", serves to lead undergraduate students not only through the syllabus but also through the individualized explanation of a particular topic. 00 Such discourse is a legitimate teaching concern for ITA training programs (Stevens, 1989). Moreover, undergraduate students expect an interactive communicator style in the classroom, a style characterized Ifit by discourse markers, those verbal cues or "guideposts" that serve cit such important pedagogical functions as separating ideas, indicating temporal relationships and causation, aid providing emphasis and contrast (Pica et al., 1990). The present study demonstrates that when ITAs incorporate "teacher talk" into their explanations, their presentations improve in clarity and effectiveness. In this study at Memphis State University, ITAs enrolled in a training class were videotaped presenting a sevenminute explanation of a term taken from their discipline. Approximately a month later, after studying and discussing lecture techniques and the importance of classroom discourse markers, the ITAs were videotaped once again presenting the same explanation but integrating "teacher talk." The positive results of the use of effective discourse markers is evident in matched pairs of videotaped samples of these ITA presentations and the subsequent evaluations of