IS GLOBALIZATION A GOOD IDEA?

1. Look at the photos. What can you see in the pictures? Which countries
do you think they were taken in? What aspects of globalization are
reflected?

2. Look at the words in the box and check their meanings in pairs. Then, put the
words in the gaps to complete each phrase. There are two extra words you do
not need to use.

lingua franca Neighboring Multinational Corporation Domestic Abroad

Ethnic Fast food chains Foreign Imported Non-native Brands

a. Watch _______________ films and tv programmes.

b. Buy international _______________ like Benneton or Nike
c. Eat food _______________ imported from across the world
d. Go shopping in a _______________ country
e. Watch _______________ sport from another country . e.g Italian league football in Spain
f. Eat in international _______________
g. Use English as a _______________ to communicate with other _______________ speakers
h. Work for a _______________ with people from different countries.

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 3. Make a list of five advantages of globalization and five disadvantages.
Share your answers with your partner. Do you agree each other?

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
1. Mass tourism 1. Losing our identity
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.
5. 5.

4. You will hear four extracts in which people talk about what globalization means to
them. Listen and match the people to the topics. Put the letter next to the person.
PEOPLE TOPICS
1. ____D____ a. Football
2. __________ b. Fighting again globalization
3__________ c. shopping and travelling
4__________ d. Films
5__________ e. Music

5. Listen one more time and tick the sentences true or false according to what the
people say about globalization.

True False
Watching American television can be boring but thanks to globalization we can choose to watch it or not.
Caroline agrees with being different; different taste of music, religion or culture.
Jhon believes that globalization is about business now.
Eliana thinks it is not necessary to travel to buy things from other cultures.
Richard disagree with the fact that globalization is making the world a better place.

6. Read the statements and answer the question in pairs:

a. Who is likely to have made each statement?

b. Where do they come from?
c. How old are they?
d. What is the main point they are making?
e. Do any of the photos illustrate the points they are making?

7. Which statement do you agree with, agree with to some extent, or disagree with?
With your partner, choose one of the statements (a-j) that you both agree with and
say why

.
I agree with statement ___________

8. Now choose a statement you both disagree with and say why.

We disagree with statement ___________

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 9. Take it in turns to present your views on globalization to the rest of
the class.

A.) Global products are good because you know that the quality is the same all over the world. I want
to know that a hamburger, not some strange local idea of a hamburger.

B.) English will never dominate the world. It
will never replace other languages because it
forces other countries to adopt English
cultures. People want their own cultures and
their own language. They only need English
to in business sometimes
C.) It makes me sad when I see people in
different countries wearing the same clothes,
eating the same food and listening to the same
music. In my day, we knew other countries did
thing differently and we were interested but we
did not want to do the same as they them. The
differences were good not bad

D.) Yeah, there is lots of American stuff but there is also loads of stuff of different countries, you can
get Chinese food or Indian or Somali or Japanese or anything. You can listen to South American music
or pop from Honk Kong. This is globalisation as its best.

E.) When I was young, we did not know
much beyond the end of our street. Now we
know it all. We see it all on TV and read
about it in the papers. It is better. It makes
you feel part of something more important
than the end of your street
F.) Why should I have to spend a fortune on
expensive trainers for my children just
because some foreign company says they are
good? What is wrong with the ones they make
here? Globalisation can have very expensive
results

G.) If people knew more about other places and understood the differences, they would not resent them.
And if they did not resent them, they would want to get revenge. I think this is where most of the worlds
most of the problems come from

H.) Everyone knows Tom Cruise. Hes a good actor, true.
But Gong Li is also good, she is great, but not too many
people know her. The problem is she is not American. Its
all wrong. Its nothing to do with how good you are, it is
where you come from thats important
J. ) Okay, so local companies have gone out of
business but multinational pay better and you know
therell always be a market for what you make. Thats
not bad thing, is it?
I.) My parents never travelled. They never
knew anything about other countries unless
they went to the pictures or read the papers.
My generation knows so much more about
everywhere and we love it. My mum says
whats the point on travelling when youve
got it all here now? but I dont agree.
Having it all makes me want to go and see it
all in the countries it came from.
Globalisation has made me more interested
in other cultures, not less