Bilingualism in a Globalized World

Globalization presents both exciting opportunities and new challenges for educators and language professionals. Technological advances of the last few decades have made it easier for people from distant corners of the globe to interact with one another. Since this interaction increasingly involves people accessing and exchanging information across national and linguistic borders, there is an ever-increasing need for bilingualism. While the forces of globalization have produced a thoroughly interconnected world and leveled the playing field for billions of ordinary people, the same forces are threatening the existence of local cultures, identities, and languages. This chapter shows how language is increasingly treated as a commodity, a cultural capital that is required for success in a globalized world.