The Place of Literature in EducationWhy read literature? For many of us, such a question seems as strange as asking “why breathe?” as literature has been a part of our lives, families, schools and communities for as long as we can remember. Of course, there are those who argue that what today's students need is preparation for the “real world,” but in the push for practical preparation we sometimes overlook the importance of educating students' imaginations. Literature offers windows into worlds outside of students' experience and mirrors into the world they already know. Literature also prepares students for the personal challenges and moral dilemmas they are likely to face. We interpret the world constantly in all our daily experiences, so interpreting literature provides a general model of interpretation. Exploring a literary text gives the opportunity to think about various reasons for actions, how people act, think and react to others. Reading offers us the opportunity to do so regardless of our personal experiences. It's about someone else: fictional people in a fictional world. “The study of literature and language could be an opportunity to understand and encourage an even more open and multicultural society.” (Eaglestone 2000: 110) Indeed, language and literacy skills are considered by most to be crucial for full participation in a given society. Furthermore, it claims a better cultural understanding of others, benefits for the ethical development of the individual and broader general educational benefits in terms of developing more worthy and more critical citizens. Literature expands our notions of what it means to be human and how we might live better as human beings. Despite all its perc...... middle of paper ......Stylistics and teaching literature. London: Longman Group Ltd. Widdowson, H. G. 1982. The use of literature. In On TESOL '81, Mary Hines and William Rutherford (eds.), 203–214. Washington, DC: TESOL.Widdowson, H.G. 1983. Conversation Shop: On Literature and ELT. English LanguageTeaching Journal 37(1):30–35. Carrell, Patricia L., and Joan C. Eisterhold. 1983. Schema theory and the pedagogy of ESL reading. TESOL Quarterly 17(4):553-573. McConochie, Jean. 1982. All this improves linguistic awareness through poetry. In On TESOL '81, Mary Hines and William Rutherford (eds.), 231-240. Washington, DC: TESOL.Arthur, Bradford. 1968. Reading literature and learning a second language. Language Learning 18(3–4): 199–210. Collie, J., Slater, S. Literature in the language classroom: a resource book of ideas and activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. 266p.