English_with_an_Accent_-_Rosina_Lippi-Green_UserUpload.Net

fee of $150 an hour, or $210 for an hour and a half session, plus material
and travel time, though most clients visit him” (Luongo 2007).
There are legitimate reasons to offer this kind of instruction. People
who have acquired English as a second language and who would simply
like to come closer to a native pronunciation of U.S. English may want and
pursue such training. Actors often need to learn how to simulate another
accent, in a contrived setting and for short periods of time. These are not
unreasonable goals, and they are often pursued by well-meaning

individuals:^7

It is the position of ASHA [American Speech-Language-Hearing

Association] that no dialectal variety of English is a disorder or a

pathological form of speech or language. Each social dialect is

adequate as a functional and effective variety of English. Each serves

a communication function as well as a social solidarity function. It

maintains the communication network and the social construct of the

community of speakers who use it. Furthermore, each is a symbolic

representation of the historical, social and cultural background of the

speakers. ASHA also recognizes that standard English has been

adopted by society as the linguistic archetype used by the

government, the mass media, business, education, science, and the

arts.

(Prepared statement of Charlena M. Seymour, President, American

Speech-Language-Hearing Association before the Congressional

Hearings on Ebonics, January 23, 1997)^8

And yet a large proportion of those advertising accent reduction or
elimination draw in students with false promises and under false
pretenses.
In any city of average size, there will be a few people who have hung
out a shingle and sought clients with the claim that they can teach them to
lose one accent and acquire another. There is no regulation or licensing for
such businesses, in the same way that an individual can claim to have

developed a miracle diet and charge money for it.^9
The providers of these services are often quite willing to take a public
stance on issues of multilingualism and accent: