English language teaching standards were created by the International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and were published and widely adopted in 1996. This document includes 12 criteria and contains meaningful recommendations for educators regarding the teaching of English language and literature in schools. Standards were created to ensure that students who meet these standards would be knowlegeable and proficient users of the English language so that they can function well in life and improve themselves. The texts used for reading comprehension and developing creativity are rich, and include literary text, informative text, everyday text and others. This document points out the emphasis that needs to be placed on teaching and learning how to learn, and provides strategies for learning to enable students to become proficient in the English language and life long learning citizens.