Quote Originally Posted by DDT
Speaking a foreign language requires confidence and when someone pointd out a mistake in every word you say, how can you become confident in speaking that language?
And that's exactly where CDs like Pimsleur come in.

In the classroom setting the teacher should be correcting the pronunciation mercilessly during the early stages. There is no point in learning everything wrong and then having to re-learn it all again later. Bad habits are hard to lose!
In the first year of a language course at university taken from the beginner's level there is a LOT to fit in and time and attention has to be allocated to all areas of the language. Yes, it is ideal to spend hours and hours on pronunciation, but it's just not practical. My class at uni had about 30 people in it. You say there must be merciless correction. That must mean that for the pronunciation to be correct there must be no trace of a foreign accent, as, afterall, if it sounds foreign, then it's not correct Russian pronunciation. A teacher that mercilesly corrects students in a bad teacher.

And what is wrong pronunciation? Let's take the example of the French. When French people speak English they almost all have a strong French accent. Even the ones who are fluent in English still have a French accent. Now this accent is incorrect English pronunciation, but is understandable.

Teachers have to make sure the students' pronuncation is understandable, not to make them sound 100% native.

My final thought: Accent is something that can be developed relatively easily later on in the learning proccess through listening to CDs, Radio etc., recording one's own pronunciation. With exposure to the foreign language the accent will develop naturally. Explaining often complex grammar points, explaining the nuances of words and phrases and the like is what a teacher is needed for more than anything.