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In the acceleration process of globalization, information technologies have changed the political, economic and cultural fields to a great extent. As a space of freedom, the Internet has become a new cultural environment, and different cultural identities, forms and habits have started to circle rapidly in that environment. In other words, as an unlimited, cheap, uncontrolled and sheltered channel, the internet network has become the center of cultural sharing and interaction of the global system, especially for the new generation. In this secret and safe area, everyone can express themselves freely and this sharing crosses the borders of the country. Any event or development occurring anywhere in the world is shared instantly, everyone becomes aware of the situation, and every event and development affects and interests everyone in a way. So far in the history people have never been so influenced by what is happening in the world and have never had such a power to change the world. Thus, globalization has made the world smaller and caused different cultures to interact with each other. Globalization has weakened many aspects within itself and eliminated them all, and during this process,cultures have moved towards a uniformization direction from underdeveloped countries to developed countries through imitation of other cultures. Therefore, some local languages and cultures in the world have been gradually disappearing and the formation process of a common or homogeneous world culture is proceeding dramatically. Today, the world is a more uniform and smaller place in terms of culture and language. There is less authentic culture, less original language, and even fewer original races in the world anymore. The cultural aspect of globalization can be explained by the continuous increase in the interaction and communication of societies. In addition, some factors such as consumption and popular culture lead societies to the process of likeness. Since English has been spoken almost all over the world, the cultural elements of this languagespeaking geographies have been carried to the whole world. Thus the same music genres and pieces are listened everywhere, the same clothing style is followed, the same behavior patterns are seen, the same sense of humor is popular, that’s to say people have also gone through a cultural globalization. These and similar conditions prove the fact that globalization manifests itself in social and cultural terms as well. Globalization is also said to have some side effects. One of them is hybridization. This can also be called miscegenation. The religious and cultural elements emitted by the ruling forces over the internet network bring everything familiar and together and thus similar all around the world. Therefore,people meld with each other not only culturally but also genetically. The other side affect of globalization is a certain resistance to the above-mentioned identification in the spheres of influence of local or national identities. There are some approaches suggesting that this situation has a potential to create conflicts between religions and cultures in the long term. But what can we say about the importance of foreign languages, especially English which has become an international communication tool by means of internet, in the era of globalization? In this context, it should be noted that them globalization process has also changed the world trade significantly. In other words, as a positive aspect of the world’s shrinkage in terms of communication, we can say that international cooperation has become easier and widespread. Thanks to the internet which is the foundation of globalization, people who do the same work in different parts of the world can easily find each other and carry their commercial activities to the international arena. The importance of English emerges at this point. Since English has become a global language of communication, all international companies maintain communication in English. Therefore, it can easily be said that English is now the common language of the world economy and trade. In order to maintain their international competitiveness, companies provide opportunities for people who know English and even provide English trainings fort his reason. Today, where resources and tasks spread over a large geography, individuals and companies are able to meet on a common ground and establish effective collaborations through English. On the other hand, with the globalization process, regional integration, multinational corporations and international organizations increase their power, and there become some changes and transformations in the sovereignty understanding of nation- states. The sovereignty of nationstates becomes limited, more value is attached to supranational organizations, and international capital gains supranational privileges. Local and national cultures weakens gradually, political autonomy of local governments is supported, and the dominance of multinational corporations is seen in the consumption culture. Through the domination of international capital, capital monopolizes, and as a result of the uncontrolled functioning of the market economy, the rich become richer and the poor become poorer. However, it would be appropriate to state that globalization has expanded the concept of human rights and understanding of democracy. Conducted researches show that the proportion of English speaking people of a country’s population is in close correlation with the country’s production capacity and national income per capita. Based on a survey called EF English Proficiency Index, which has been conducted globally in 60 countries and their certain regions, it has shown that the increase in the level of English proficiency or expertise in a country can be directly related to the national product per capita. People who konw English work in higher salaries and higher positions in their career. Individuals’ learning English in terms of self-development makes it easier for them to get promoted and this increases their self-esteem and self-confidence. From this perspective, it is a well-known fact that in many countries English is taught and spoken as a first or second language. Today, billions of people learn English as a must for personal development, career and financial prosperity. English has assumed the title of the fastest spreading language in history. In today’s world, there are approximately 1.75 billion people who can communicate reasonably well in English. |
