To require a course in “grammar, punctuation and usage” for the preparation of teachers is like requiring legislators to master the Michigan State Penal Code in order to legislate.  There’s probably a lot of important information there, but it will not make you a better legislator.  On the other hand, you will probably have to refer to the Penal Code before drafting certain legislation.  In teaching the English language the  analogous reference book would be a style book for composition.

Requiring courses is the task of universities, guided by professional standards. It is offensive for legislators to usurp this responsibility, as though they were the experts in language study. If they would keep their hands off the teacher education curriculum, I would promise not to send their legislation back to them edited for clarity and style.

Beyond this issue of authority I challenge those who think that the teaching of grammar and style can be improved by a theoretical course of study.  You only need to study the style of a bill “enacting” a mandatory course in “English Language Grammar, Punctuation and Usage” to see that grammar is contextual, and your prescriptive knowledge of it should be adapted to the circumstances of the writing. For example, the following bill is proposed in the Michigan House: HB 5728 of 2012

A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled
“The revised school code,”
MCL 380.1 to 380.1852) by adding section 1531j.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
SEC. 1531J. ( 1) BEGINNING JANUARY 1, 2013, BOTH OF THE
FOLLOWING APPLY:    repetitious: verbs “enact” and “apply” can be combined in one action
(A) THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION SHALL NOT ISSUE
AN INITIAL ELEMENTARY LEVEL TEACHING CERTIFICATE TO A PERSON UNLESS
THE PERSON PRESENTS EVIDENCE SATISFACTORY TO THE SUPERINTENDENT

 OF
PUBLIC INSTRUCTION  Delete: redundant

THAT HE OR SHE HAS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED – ambiguous: passed or attended?

A
COURSE APPROVED BY THE DEPARTMENT  ambiguous reference: which department?

IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE GRAMMAR,PUNCTUATION, AND USAGE.

Reading this with the eye of an English teacher, who has “successfully completed a course of English, Grammar, Punctuation and Usage,” I found a number of stylistic faults that I would circle in any high school student’s writing.  In the text of the House bill above I found instances of repetition, redundancy and ambiguity that confound the understanding of the bill.  Of course, I am not a legislator who is privy to the jargon of legislation.

But that is precisely the point.  Michigan legislators understand this writing, even if their constituents don’t.  Although I am annoyed by the style, I would not argue that it is not functional for its purpose: to propose a law for consideration by the Michigan House.  Personally if I had to consume this convoluted prose on a regular basis, I would wash it down with alcohol.

Fortunately I don’t have to read it, unless I am personally involved in its consequences. Unfortunately I am an English educator, so I am involved. Fortunately I am conversant in more than one dialect, so I can interpret the intent of the bill, even if I quibble about its meaning. No doubt the Michigan House knows what it means to “successfully complete” a course, even if I have some questions.

Understanding that grammar is contextual is more important than knowing any single grammatical rule.  The Michigan High School Content Expectations state that students will “Understand how languages and dialects are used to communicate effectively in different roles, under different circumstances, and among speakers of different speech communities (ethnic communities, social groups, professional organizations” (CE 4.2.1) This is what we teach about grammar in language arts methods classes, and this is what enables us to appreciate legislator-speak, along with education-speak, poetic diction, and vernacular language.

Before enacting legislation requiring a static knowledge of prescriptive English, I suggest that members of the Michigan House of Representatives consider the existing High School Content Expectations for English Language.  They could learn something about teaching language contextually before presuming to tell Michigan teachers what professional knowledge they should have.