Globalization

 I liked this definition of globalization - "a borderless society in the age of the global economy and information technology" (Kubota 16). I agree about the borderless society more than ever. Globalization has brought me here, to the U.S. and my whole life changed. I had to negotiate my identity, my daughter is a native speaker of English and her culture is so different from mine. Have I not studied English, I would not have come to the U.S. It was that period in Russia in the 1990s when English suddenly recieved all the attention and studying at a faculty of foreign languages became prestigious and promising. However, even though it is desirable to master English in Russia, the politics keeps it as a foreign language. It is easy to see the implication of it. I do not think Russian polititians will ever decide to make English as a second language. I would say there is otherization of the West in my country.
I find some similarity with a case with Japan in terms of dichotomization between Japanese and Anglophone cultures. Learning English in Japan does not mean cosmopolitan pluralism or critical multiculturalism. "While the discourse of kokusaika promotes Anglicalization, it also reinforces cultural nationalism through constructing a rigid cultural boundary between Us and Them" (Kubota 23). In addition, regardless the varieties of English today, the 'correct' English in Japan seems to be the English language of mainly USA and UK. The same situation is in Russia. The fact that there is an increased number of secodary schools in Japan that offer languages other than English gives hope that the ethnic and linguistic diversity starts to recieve the proper attention.
The bottom line is that English as an international language should serve the function of bridging multiple cultures and promoting cultural understanding instead of narrowing views of world cultures. This is an important moment for TESOLers as we as English language educators are responsible for promoting international understanding, non-biased attitudes, and understanding of world cultures, and, mainly, that the English model is not the Inner Circle only but the Outer and even Expanding Circle.