This article discusses the results of an empirical study that examined the translanguaging practices of primary-grade, bilingual Latino students, as mediated by bilingual teacher candidates (TCs), in an after-school program in the southwestern United States. Expansive Learning theory, within the cultural-historical activity tradition, guided the…

This article interrogates the notion of "glocalization" (Moja, 2004, based on Castells, 2001) as a concept that seeks to integrate the local and the global to address both the need for social justice and the need to participate in a global market economy. The article argues that the relation between the global and the local cannot be explored…

In their study of language ideology, Valdes, Gonzalez, Lopez Garcia, and Marquez (2003) found evidence of a pervasive monolingualist ideology or "discourse of monolingualism" in college-level Spanish departments. This discourse, which mirrors national language ideologies in the United States, is premised on notions of nationalism, linguistic…

The goal of this article is to (re)define key terminology in the study of English as a lingua franca (ELF). Although the diverse perspectives and ideological standpoints represented in competing definitions of terms is appreciated, a critical conversation on definition and interpretation of ELF and other related concepts is crucial in providing a…

This study investigated degrees of mutual intelligibility among 3 structurally related languages in South Africa: Sepedi, Sesotho, and Setswana. To compare reading proficiency of mother-tongue speakers who enrolled for freshman courses at the University of Limpopo, 4 reading experimental conditions, in the 3 languages and 1 in a harmonized text,…

English has been compulsory for all Swedish pupils since 1962. At the same time, Swedish society has, for decades, been experiencing the phenomenon of an overwhelming Anglicization. Nowadays, the situation has gone so far that English may be considered as a second language in the Swedish daily living environment. This article mainly aims at…

This article argues that two movements in constant interplay operate within the historical trajectory of the Spanish language: the localization that becomes globalized and the globalization that becomes localized. Equally, this article illustrates how, at the same time that Spanish is expanding in the world, new idiosyncratic and localized forms…

This study presents a profile of Spanish as an international language and offers the most recent information on its demographics. The countries in which Spanish is the official language as well as the territories where it is not the official language are considered. The work compares the number of Spanish speakers with the number of other…

Global English is under contestation. Although some consider lingua franca English (LFE) as a neutral medium or code that does not belong to any specific culture or nationality, others see the deceptive nature of this linguistic globalization. Along with Spring (2007/this issue), they see global English as embodying partisan interests and values.…

In this article, the authors briefly describe key issues central to what Spring (2007) refers to as the "industrial-consumer paradigm" and the role of English as the global language characterized by what Harvey (1990) called "time and space compression." The authors also comment and provide a critique of some of its primary principles examining…

In an article on English and national identity, Spring gives a historical survey of the role of English and its relation to Japanese national identity. Although English was discouraged during World War II, as it was considered the language of enemy, it was again "made an important academic language and in 1956 was included in entrance examinations…

This article explores the impacts of economic and cultural globalization on language and language education. It acknowledges the spread of English and the negative impacts of this upon other languages and language communities. The case is made that new conditions of economic dominance by multinational corporations raise the stakes for schooling…

Joel Spring (2007/this issue) argues that in most nation states around the world today, English plays a central role primarily as a commodity of globalization. At the same time in the United States, English is being perpetuated in nationalistic terms as the only legitimate language. This is done through a variety of mechanisms such as language…

This article considers the role of English as the global language within the industrial-consumer paradigm. In the 21st century, the English language plays a different function in the global economy than it did during the 19th century when it was used as an instrument of cultural imperialism. Today, English serves as a vehicle for participation in…