Re: Pronunciation and Second Languages

I find the idea of English pronunciation classes being discriminatory a very interesting one.  I would agree with what was said in class and in the article about intelligibility being the most important goal when correcting or learning pronunciation with a non-native speaker.  That being said, I think it is also important to recognize that there currently exists stigma in many ways against those who speak with an accent, especially a strong one which may be intelligible but require extra effort to understand when compared to a native English speaker. (It's also interesting to note the difference in, for example, American reactions to different accents in English- British, Scottish, Australian, French, Italian, and other "Western" accents are frequently considered sexy or intriguing, while accents of ESL speakers from most other parts of the world are not seen in as glamorous a light).  Correcting this stigma is important, but will take time- for students looking to find a job next year, they may want or need a pronunciation class that can help them move past the stigma (perhaps unconscious) of potential employers, etc, associated with a strong non-native accent.  Since the classes are voluntary and it wasn't a group of international students who filed the complaint, it would seem that the students affected either do not feel that their identities are threatened by a pronunciation class, or place a higher priority on the potential gains from assimilating their pronunciation than they do on avoiding this linguistic assimilation.  

While there are delicate questions to consider here, I feel that the focus should be on reducing stigma among native English speakers towards others, on increased foreign language learning among native English speakers (which provides the best opportunity to appreciate how incredible it is that so many people learn English as a second language and then take classes, work, etc, in that second or third or fourth language), and on conversations about protecting other languages as English becomes increasingly common worldwide. Taking course options away from English learners does not, in my opinion, further these goals in a productive way.