That should change. Two frivolous arguments challenge the emphasis on standard English. The first is that standard English is an expression of elitism, and that to profess a standard is to disparage the nonstandard. One dialect is no better than another, goes the argument. But despite their claims, how you say it does make a difference, a big difference.
Accepted rules provide the precise language required to express precise thought.
This is true but irrelevant. High standards in any language are barriers to those who do not know the language. Ask yourself how your two years of high school Spanish would serve you in an undergraduate degree program at the University of Castile. Nonetheless, a language and its standards make communication possible, and that is the blunt reality. GMU students generally take English 101, but ESL students are allowed to take English 100 instead.