Prospective English majors can expect to take college courses in academic writing, creative writing, literary theory, British and American literature, multicultural literature, several literary genres (such as poetry, drama, and film studies), and a number of elective multidisciplinary topics such as history, courses in the social sciences, and studies in a foreign language.
[5] In Germany and several other European countries, English philology, a practice of reading pre-modern texts, became the preferred scholarly paradigm.
[6] At the end of this process, many English departments refocused their work on various forms of writing instruction (creative, professional, critical) and the interpreting of literary texts.
Outside the United States (originating in Scotland and then rippling out into the English-speaking world) the English major became popular in the latter half of the 19th century, during a time when religious beliefs were shaken in the face of scientific discoveries.
[4][9] The absence of a clearly defined disciplinary identity and the increasingly utilitarian goals in U.S. society present a challenge to those academic units still mostly focusing on the printed book and the traditional division in historical periods and national literatures, and neglecting allegedly non-theoretical areas such as professional writing, composition, and multimodal communication.
While the requirements for an English Major vary from university to university, most English departments emphasize three core skills: analyzing texts (a process which requires logic and reflective analysis), creativity and imagination with regard to the production of good writing, including a good understanding of the rhetorical situation; and an understanding of different cultures, civilizations, and literary styles from various time periods.
Such careers that graduates pursue can include, but are not limited to, writing, editing, publishing, teaching, research, advertising, public relations, law, and finance.
[3] Typical career choices for English majors include positions in writing, publishing, teaching, journalism, and human resources.
However, there are also career opportunities in fields such as advertising, public relations, acting, law, business, marketing, information assurance, and directing.
[1] However, all countries share commonalities in their instruction via the teaching of literature analysis, reading comprehension, composition, and language arts, as well as writing skills.
Overall, most high school English programs follow the Common Core Standards, which require students to meet objectives in reading, writing, speaking and listening.
[19] This rate goes as high as 100% in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Malta, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Liechtenstein, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
[23] Additionally, as is present in the overall discussion of English studies, British educators continue to debate the relevance of Shakespeare for contemporary teens, with some arguing for more modern texts and others upholding the virtues of the classics.
[25] The Japan Association for Language Teaching focuses on Japanese high school students in the L1 and L2 low writing and reading levels.