The purpose of this study was to investigate students perception towards literature in English
in public secondary schools in Dagoretti sub-county, Nairobi county. The study adopted a
research design , involving quantitative research. A sample of 45 students and 8 literature
teachers were the one used to discuss the findings after the collection of the questionnaires.
The research design used was descriptive survey design. The questionnaire return rate was
impressive and this contributed to the success of this study. The data collected was
represented in frequency distribution tables and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Chapter
one of the study gives a background of the study which gives us different research concerning
the perception of students towards literature, the statement of the problem which says that
from the most studies, students have negative perception towards literature. The research
objectives which were to find out Students perception of literature and it's importance in
language, cultural awareness and personal development, literature teaching approaches and
teaching materials used in literature in Dagoretti sub-County and theoretical framework
which was developed from the phenomenography. Chapter two reviewed empirical studies
related to students perception towards literature. The major findings of the study concerning
students perception towards literature are that the school should empress the use of virtual
literature learning, they should also use posters, flashcards, tape recorder, radios and printed
textbooks during learning process which has led to negative perception of students towards
literature. The study also concludes that language laboratory in schools was a challenge and
this led to students having a negative perception towards literature. Therefore, students in the
schools under study had a positive perception towards literature in English because most of
the research variables under the research questions had response from the students.