Teaching Assistant at South Asia Summer Language Institute (SASLI)

About the position

The Teaching Assistant position at the South Asia Summer Language Institute (SASLI) is designed to provide teacher training in less commonly taught South Asian languages. This role involves assisting the Main Instructor/Lecturer in teaching languages such as Bengali, Dari, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Nepali, Pashto, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sinhala, Tamil, Tibetan, and Urdu during an intensive eight-week summer program. The position emphasizes the use of the target language in classroom interactions and includes responsibilities such as preparing course materials, grading assignments, and maintaining the learning management system. The role is primarily remote, with some in-person teaching opportunities available for specific courses.

Responsibilities

• Assist the Main Instructor/Lecturer in teaching one of the South Asian languages.
• Prepare syllabus and develop, administer, and grade classroom assignments and exams.
• Maintain the student learning management system (LMS) on Canvas.
• Hold scheduled office hours and provide additional support to students as needed.
• Collaborate with other instructors and program staff to ensure a supportive learning environment.
• Participate in pedagogy workshops and instructor meetings organized by WISLI and individual institutes.
• Manage classroom administrative tasks including taking attendance and reporting grades.
• Facilitate classroom instruction and assess student performance.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in South Asian or Area Studies, Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition, or a related field.
• Fluency or near-native fluency in the language being taught and in English.
• Preferred: One year of experience teaching a South Asian language as a second language at various levels.
• Knowledge of current issues in language pedagogy and training in language proficiency is preferred.
• Experience with remote teaching and technology in foreign language instruction is strongly preferred.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience in teaching at the elementary, intermediate, or advanced level in the US or abroad.
• Training in language proficiency and pedagogy.

Benefits

• Competitive salary starting from $52,000 for the summer session.
• Opportunity for professional development through workshops and training sessions.