Hybrid Texts and Basic Writers

I may be confused. What is the point of the Basic Writing course after all? My belief is that the students who are placed in Basic Writing courses are there to prepare for more demanding English courses and to learn to write the sort of formal, academic writing which they must do in order to complete college successfully. Our Basic Writing students are in need of preparation, are they not?

Today, we discussed the opportunity for hybrid texts in Basic Writing to bridge students' cultural (and academic) contexts, and vernacular English usage in Basic Writing. If the point of Basic Writing is to teach students to write using formal, academic English, why encourage students to write using vernacular English? Is it not a disservice to Basic Writing students not only to encourage and advocate the use of informal, nonstandard English--the opposite of what academe anticipates--but to request it? The students may be confused.