A course with a focus on English literature typically allows students to study literary texts from throughout history. Often you’ll start with modules covering a diverse range of literature from different periods; for instance, you could be reading Shakespeare one week and Virginia Woolf the next. Your reading will require you to study and analyze passages, relating texts to their cultural, social, historical and political contexts.
An English language-focused degree will train students to analyze the workings of the English language outside of literature, including language-based communication in all kinds of forms and contexts. This could include analysis of casual spoken conversation, text speak, advertising methods or the uses of language in specialized legal and medical discourse.