Do students have the right to expect their professors to speak English in a manner that can be understood? One would hope so, and a piece of legislation under consideration in Minnesota would require that they do so.

Instructors who want to teach at Minnesota colleges would have to prove they can speak English clearly before appearing at the head of the classroom, if a bill at the Legislature becomes law.

The bill would require schools in Minnesota State Colleges and Universities to ensure their undergraduate teachers speak plain, unaccented English. It would request the same of the University of Minnesota, which the Legislature has limited authority to regulate.

Rep. Bud Heidgerken, a former teacher and current cafe owner, said he's heard plenty from former students and employees about their struggles to understand professors with thick accents.

"I've had many students say they dropped a course or delayed graduation for a semester because they couldn't get around this one professor they couldn't understand," the Freeport Republican said. "All I'm trying to accomplish is getting the best education we have for postsecondary students."

Three states -- North Dakota, Texas and Pennsylvania -- have laws dealing with the English proficiency of college teachers.

MnSCU officials said few international students teach undergraduates at state colleges and universities. At the University of Minnesota, officials say international students already take a spoken language test before they are allowed to teach.

Peter Hudleston, associate dean for student affairs at the university's Institute of Technology, said comprehension problems sometimes crop up. But he said school officials warn students "they have to expect to be able to understand and converse with people from other parts of the English-speaking world. They have to be able to deal with different accents."

Wait just one minute – shouldn’t those who are coming here to teach be able to make themselves understood by people in this part of the English-speaking world? After all, the needs of the students who are paying to take these courses should take precedence.

Of course, there are the usual obstructors of common sense coming out to play.

Travis Reindl, director of state policy analysis with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, finds the legislation troublesome.

"If we start sending a message here that if you can't speak the king's English flawlessly, we don't want you in our classrooms, that sends a message that the U.S. is not a friendly place for them," he said. "(Besides), there are parts of this country where you would swear that English is a second language based on your own background. If you took somebody from Minnesota and plunked him in Mississippi, then you might have a question."

What a patronizing response. No one is demanding flawless English, or even unaccented English. What is being sought is comprehensible English, which is a significantly lower barrier. I can recall being in an economics class many years ago, taught by a graduate student from India. He could not be understood by nearly half of the 150 students in the lecture hall, and was finally reassigned after a sufficient quantity of complaints – but such complaints should never have been necessary.

Posted by: Greg at 02:02 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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