North Dakota Targets Professors With Foreign Accents

North Dakota is considering a law giving students certain rights if professors do not “speak English clearly and with good pronunciation”—and if enough students complain, stripping the professor of classroom duties. Two observations:

· This is the most jingoistic proposal I can recall since California’s English-only initiative. The referenced study, showing how listeners implicitly discriminate against minority lecturers, shows just how warped this proposal really is.

· I have a tough time understanding Wisconsin accents, let alone people with a strong Southern drawl!