Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Qiji Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Yuncheng Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language.
As our world changes, the opportunities around us change as well. Fifty years ago, only the wealthy and military were given the opportunity to see and experience other parts of the world. However, our world has changed drastically in that time. Today millions of individuals fly to other countries and experience new cultures every day! Many educational facilities have begun requiring students to learn at least one additional language, preferably from a native speaker. This is where online education steps in. Because of the demand for native speakers in language acquisition, online education has grown worldwide. Online education involves learning through internet based educational programs. Since internet service is available across the globe, so is international education. As students begin gaining the ability to communicate in other languages, their knowledge of the culture from those countries grows as well. This, then, leads to globalization. Globalization can be credited to many things. What is globalization? “Globalization implies the opening of local and nationalistic perspectives to a broader outlook of an interconnected and interdependent world with free transfer of capital, goods, and services across national frontiers.” (Business Dictionary by WebFinance Inc, n.d.) Though many definitions of globalization exist, this definition gives a deeper look at how online education can be a source of globalization. It is easy to credit globalization to the trade of goods. Through trade, we have the ability to have items from around the world at our fingertips. However, without the ability to communicate with people in other countries, trade would not be able to happen. This brings us back to the importance of online education. International trade has been occurring in the world dating back to 3000 BC (Gascoigne, 2001) and continues today. In the past, language was gained by exposure or classroom learning. Now, language can be learned in a classroom, from traveling to other countries, purchasing a book with CD, downloading an app on your phone and studying, or by attending online courses. Online language education allows the student the opportunity to learn a foreign language from a native speaker. This encourages the student to hear the proper pronunciation, learn local slang, and learn multiple ways of saying the same thing (such as “Hello, Hi, Good Morning, Hey, What’s up?, Mornin’”-are each ways to greet someone first things in the day.) The better the language is absorbed by the learner, the better communication with others can be. The online platform allows students the opportunity to study as an exchange student without ever leaving their home. The students choosing to study foreign language are not just adults or high school students. There are many young children who are participating in online courses. Some of these students are only two or three years old. Students apply through programs such as TeachAway, VIP Kid, QKids, Gogokid, and DaDa to learn English and native English speakers provide the lessons. This is also available for those wanting to learn other languages. These students are being exposed to globalization as they learn about the other cultures and gain new perspectives on how individuals in other countries think. This helps the students to gain a deeper understanding of the culture and enables globalization to gain a deeper foothold within the communities of the students as they share what they have been taught. With every class taught online, the world becomes a little bit smaller and a little bit closer to being able to understand each other and the cultures from which the teacher and student originates from. This allows a connection between cultures to grow and builds an interconnectedness between individuals and communities. With these facts, it is easy to see online education is indeed a source of globalization. Bibliography Business Dictionary by WebFinance Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved June 29, 2019, from www.businessdictionary.com: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/globalization.html Gascoigne, B. (2001). History of Trade. Retrieved from History World: http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=1916&HistoryID=ab72>rack=pthc
