Week 12: Globalization

Chapter 1 & 2 by McKay and Bokhorst-Heng
     Globalization is an important key term that I've learned about not only in several history courses, but in many language courses as well. Chapter one discusses the different meanings of globalization and how it has caused English to be a shared national language among many countries- making it much easier to exchange information and knowledge in a variety of social contexts. The world-spread usage of English can be used for economic purposes, advertising, music, movies, and much more. Having taken many economic and history courses, it was not surprising to me when reading about how knowing the English language is correlated to having personal success. This sort of influence that globalization can have is extremely powerful, and the two others continue to discuss throughout these chapters whether or not it can be a good thing or a bad thing.
     The second chapter then describes Kachu's presentation of these different social contexts as being the Inner Circle, Outer Circle, and Expanding Circle- which are permeable with the rising number bilingual speakers. There are many different programs to serve the individuals within each circle, but it is hard to say which one would be the most beneficial (especially when taking personal differences into account for each student). However, I do believe that the student's learning English as a second language should also concentrate on their first language as well. Just because knowing English will make you more "successful" is no reason to completely ignore your first language.

The impact of globalization on language teaching in Japan by Kubota
     This article discusses how globalization in this case can relate to Americanization, along with the discourse of internalization. Americanization includes the three categories of: 1) ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity in the local communities, 2) the prevalence of English, and 3) nationalism endorsed by linguistic and cultural essential-ism.  Internalization, on the other hand, has led to four premises for foreign language education which are: 1) English is the foreign language, 2) the model for English should be standard, 3) learning English leads to intercultural understanding, and 4) national identity is fostered through English. The two terms are similar in that they both understand the concept of diversity, and the fact that English linguistics endorses nationalism. This article continues to suggest that Japanese students should adapt to the English way of logic while learning the language to help them and reflects on other types of speech-thinking as well. Overall, globalization has had a huge impact on not only people in Japan but all over the world in terms of the English language.