ABSTRACT
Students give all sorts of good reasons for wanting to study English: because reading is pleasurable and fun; because it's interesting; because it allows them to experience a huge range of thoughts and feelings; because they like way it's usually taught, through conversation; because works of literature mean things to them. Thinking of education as a tool can also have some odd side effects. Accountants learn by reviewing case studies and following financial and legal discussions and protocols; English students learn theirs by reading and discussing novels, poems, plays, other texts and works of criticism and theory. There are also skills specific to English. The study of literature also teaches skills, and its graduates are effective researchers, good communicators and active learners. People who have studied English can read closely and critically, paying attention to the details of texts.
