Globalization and Language Teaching

This work considers the issues globalization raises for second language learning and teaching. Block and Cameron's collection shows how, in an economy based on services and information, the linguistic skills of workers becomes increasingly important. New technologies make possible new kinds of language teaching, and language becomes an economic commodity with a value in the global marketplace. This has implications for how and why people learn languages, and for which languages they learn. Drawing together the various strands of the globalization debate, this collection of contributions explores issues such as: the commodification of language(s) and language skills; the use of new media and new technologies in language learning and teaching; the effects of globalization on the language teaching industry; and new forms of power and resistance.

'This book represents a major theoretical and empirical statement on the impact of globalization on language policies and practice around the world...An invaluable resource.' - David Nunan, University of Hong Kong

David Block is Lecturer in Languages in Education at the Institute of Education, University of London. Deborah Cameron is Professor of Languages in Education at the Institute of Education, University of London