This paper offers an examination of the role played by ideology in the research and regulation of "English within a globalized context" (EGC). It analyzes the two major paradigms in this field: that which promotes English as a single, universal code; and that which advocates the need for the acknowledgement of discrete, localized varieties. It explores the linguistic assumptions upon which these are based, as well as the ideological frameworks that assign the particular functions and character to the language within this context, and which, in effect, create the concept of English as a Universal Language. By drawing upon an integrated theory of language ideologies and the linguistic system, the paper outlines the ways in which ideological issues are of fundamental importance for the way that the language both exists and operates within the globalized context.