Globalization and Global English: Panacea or Poison for ELT in Taiwan?

This paper deals with the interrelationship between globalization and English education in Taiwan. First the differences between internationalization and globalization are examined, using trade, law, people, and culture as examples. The differences have fundamental implications for ELT in Taiwan. With the distinctions between globalization and internationalization in mind, the meanings of English as a (the) global language, or Global English (GE), are then discussed. Different theoretical perspectives on GE include the rightist/functional perspective that conceives of GE as a disinterested means used for any end and the leftist/critical perspective that casts GE as a pernicious means used for political (often exploitive) ends, as well as the perspectives of those who conceptualize GE in other ways between these two polar perspectives. The focus then turns to the impact of globalization on Taiwan's ELT. While some ELT teachers, scholars, and policy makers expect globalization to solve some major problems in Taiwan's ELT by providing a motivating linguistic context for learning and teaching, others fear that GE may have detrimental effects on students' English proficiency and identity development. The argument here is that globalization should be the catalyst to facilitate the transformation of Taiwan's English education, mainly by incorporating the concepts in global education 本文探討全球化與台灣英語教育之間的關係。首先藉由貿易、法律、人群、以及文化為例子，加以探討國際化以及全球化之間的不同；而這些不同點對台灣英語教學會有一些重要的啟發。接下來透過全球化與國際化的不同概念，討論英語成為全球性語言（或全球英語）的重要性。「全球英語」包括右派／功能性觀點、左派／批判性觀點、以及其他觀點。右派／功能性觀點將「全球英語」視為達成目的的一種公正的工具；左派／批判性觀點則將「全球英語」定位為一個方便政治上圖利（或者是剝削）的有害手段；而其餘觀點認為「全球英語」是介於以上兩極觀點之間的現象。接下來探討的重點在於全球化對台灣英語教學的影響。有些從事英語教學的教師、學者、政策制定者期待全球化能為學習者及教學者提供語言環境，藉此解決台灣英語教學一些主要問題；但是也有其他相關人士擔心「全球英語」可能會對學生們的英語能力以及認同發展產生有害的影響。本文的論點是全球化若能結合全球教育概念，必能成為促進台灣英語教育改革的催化劑。