making merit

The last discussion about globalization brought some interesting comments. A couple of students mentioned that globalization has made the world "flat," a term made popular by Thomas Friedman's famous book: This means that globalization has made the world equal in some ways. You can find kids in the poorest hill tribe villages with a Facebook or Twitter account. You can go to a rural African village and everyone has a mobile phone and wifi. More people are connected globally and more people have access to information than ever before.

But when they get connected, how do they communicate? By the accidents of history, English has emerged as the supreme international language. Now people around the world invest a lot of time and money to learn English, or at least a little English, so they can gain more benefits from globalization.

We all know what Thai dance is. We know what German sausage is. We also know about Indian dress, Chinese opera, and French wine. These cultures are famous for their identities, and much of this is shaped by language: Thai language, German language, Hindi, Chinese, and French...

So, what is an international language? Who owns it? Who does it belong to? Who decides the rules and proper ways to use it? What culture defines it? We know that Thai dance belongs to Thai culture. To what culture does an international language belong?

Many will say that native English speakers are the "owners." If the world is flat and equal because of globalization, then do cultures around the world have the equal right to take English and adapt it and use it in their own cultural way? After all, English is an international language... Or is it the language of the native speakers, people like me, who are invited by many countries to travel abroad to teach their citizens how to speak English... like me.

As advanced learners of English, describe your relationship to this language. Do your English skills belong to you? Or do you follow the language rules from somewhere else? How do you play the game?

Aj. M

“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” Ludwig Wittgenstein

Globalization... Internationalism... Nationalism... And Culture?

We're back to class and back to the book. For the first half of the semester, we have focussed on Who and Why am I. We have tried to study and learn about how our culture helps us to construct our identity: what we think, what we believe, what we hope for, and how we communicate it to other people.

For the rest of the semester, we are going to think and study about the effects of other cultures on us: We are now experiencing a more global and interconnected world because of many reasons such as business, technology, politics, war, and the environment. Cross cultural communication is more important now than ever before in history.

We will study about some cultural issues that we are facing everyday. What is globalization? Internationalization? Nationalism? And what does that mean for Culture?

Globalization is a popular word these days, and I always hear people say it. However, no one can ever really explain what it means. For this week, I am interested to know what you think. Make your best try at defining this word: globalization. Good luck. Aj. M

“We must take care that globalization does not become something people become afraid of.” Gerhard Schroeder

Who and Why am I? Thoughts and Reflections

Welcome back and happy new year.

This week, you will present a topic about Who and Why am I? You will present for two days. If after the first day, your group finds that there were some mistakes, problems, or improvements to be made, you can adjust for the second-day presentation.

While you are presenting this week, please share your thoughts and reflections of your exhibition. Are people discovering things about culture that they never knew before? Does your topic help people to show how our cultural identity deeply affects our way of communication? This is our objective. The exhibition is our way to make our knowledge public and open to other people and not just to us in our class.

On this week's blog, please share your experience, comments from teachers, or any difficulties you are having. Good luck with your presentations. I'm looking forward to it. Aj. M

"The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand." Frank Herbert

CCC Exhibition

This is just a short blog announcement for the CCC Exhibition next week.

I want to remind you to remind your guest teachers about the exhibiton. You will present two days. You must have one teacher for each day.

Section 3: Please remember that your exhibition days are Thursday (10-12) and Friday (1100-1300).

Everyone must participate equally during the exhibition. Some groups have not met with me about their exhibition topics, so I am worried about them. I hope they are ready.

This exhibition is 20% of your final grade.

Good luck to everyone. I hope this will be an enjoyable experience for you. Aj. M