In examining how to save English studies, we focused on the question "what should we learn?". One of the problems we ran into was trying to distinguish that question of what should be studied, as in specific works, or what skills needed to be learned.

To determine how to save English studies, we hoped to define a new end goal and the best vehicle to achieve that aim.

So what can an English major offer? What is that we can do uniquely? Are there things that in literature that go along with English major that are exclusive to that major?

When considering what English studies will look like in the future, one must consider the changing world that is happening outside of the discipline. Technology and globalization are two major players that will undoubtedly mold the future of any discipline. For English studies in particular, technology and globalization will make it necessary to include multi-cultural texts within the core of the study and new mediums, i.e. mediums besides books, that can serve as texts. Resources that weren't accessible 50 years ago, will facilitate these changes but also make it necessarily to make these changes as they are occurring throughout all disciplines. The reason why it should change is that we have resources to allow us to learn about things that wasn't accessible to the studies 50 years ago. Now we can study certain groups that we did not have the technological abilities to learn about in previous generations.

Numbers of English majors are waning due to many outside circumstances. The state of the economy and the skills necessary to succeed in today’s technology-driven world have forced many students to pursue majors that are more technical and appear to be more directly applicable in the job market. With the economy, a business degree will directly give you a set skills that have commercial value. With English studies, the skills currently learned--i.e. reading, writing, and critical thinking--are not considered as marketable. In order to make English studies more marketable, one must consider and enhance those aspects that make English studies unique and more directly applicable to the current world. In pursuing a degree in English studies, students become better at expressing him or herself. English studies have largely maintained a very traditional focused skill set. If English studies is to remain competitive and appealing to students our recommendations are to embrace a more versatile curriculum.

Recommendations we would make to make English studies more marketable fall into two categories: 1) How do we revolutionize our teaching methods to match the changing world? and 2) What changes need to be made to our focuses or aims to make them more compatible to our changing world?

In summary, new approaches to teaching would include:

--technology

--explore new texts—global or more contemporary

--incorporating different mediums, redefining what is “text”

What are the focus/aims?

--relevance to the current world

--well-rounded critical thinkers exposed to more different cultures – not just western focus

One important thing that should be carried forward is the value of literature as an art, and the idea that literature is not dead. This can be achieved in relating literature to other forms of art: cinema, music, visual art. Another critical aspect is preserving the techniques use to analyze literature. These skills can be applied to many other disciplines, and are essential in creating the kind of critical thinkers English studies have produced in the past. English studies provides a unique set of critical life skills that no other discipline offers, especially in relation to effective communication. Thoughts and ideas are shared and expressed via different mediums of communication, all of which are fundamentally rooted in English studies. Diction, grammar, and an overall ability to express oneself intelligibly are obtained through literature and English studies.
Everything from speeches, to blogging, to podcasts follow the basic essay structure (introduction, thesis, body content, conclusion) regardless of whether they are written down or not. For example, NPR posts transcripts of their radio essays on their website, and these transcripts follow the traditional essay form. The website and the audio program often work together, with the radio announcer often referring the listener to additional information that cannot be seen or expressed through audio. This collaboration between audio and written word shows that even in advancing technology, the written word and basic English studies skills are still necessary. The creativity that reading literature requires and promotes is also a critical skill. Reading requires imagination. The reader is forced to fill in the spaces where the author does not explicitly state information, which promotes creative thought. Reading is a sensory experience that cannot be replicated in any other medium, thus it must be preserved and carried forward.