years. Much of the autonomous learning is taking place through social networking
sites, listening to popular music, and watching undubbed movies and television
shows. With increasing access to popular media available in different languages
through the world wide web, it is clear that the potential of technology has hardly
been realized. Then, too, it is likely in the foreseeable future that there will be more
corpus-informed teaching materials and more courses delivered entirely online or in
blended format, combining online with face-to-face instruction.
The other external influence comes from globalization. While globalization also
may not be a new phenomenon, there is no doubt that with growing transnational
population flows, there has been increased demand for workers having proficiency in
different languages. Further, seeing language proficiency as a means for economic
advancement has also led to the perception that knowledge of languages is an
indispensable tool. This has resulted in calls for starting language instruction at
younger and younger ages and for enhanced efficiency in instruction, such as the
‘two-for-one’ promise of content-based teaching. Moreover, this utilitarian view of
language has meant that language is taught apart from culture,^1 with cultural values
often being deemed irrelevant.
Responding to the potential for exploitation that can accompany globalization is a
critical approach to pedagogy. In critical pedagogy, language is not seen as something
politically neutral, and it is not the exclusive property of native speakers. There is also
an appreciation for how much of one’s identity comes from speaking a particular
language or languages (Norton 2011). Therefore, some believe that holding learners to
native-speaker standards is inappropriate and unnecessary. As Ortega (2010) notes, in
much SLA research, monolingualism is taken as the norm, with the goal of second
language acquisition being an unnecessary, and often unattainable, monolingual-like
performance in another language. Instead, it should not be monolinguals with whom
emergent bilinguals (Garcia and Kleifgen 2010) are compared, but rather other
proficient users of the target language.
In the category of external influences in the language teaching field could also be
governmental national and international language policies. For example, in the USA
there has been growing support for the teaching of languages deemed ‘critical’ for
political or security purposes (Larsen-Freeman and Freeman 2008), and in countries
comprising the former Soviet Union, Russian language programs have been
terminated.
While teachers’ roles may be redefined by technology, their responsibilities have
multiplied in other ways. For instance, with proponents of the Participatory Approach
reminding us of the political nature of language teaching, some teachers are assuming
the role of advocates—not only advocates on behalf of their disempowered students,
but also advocates on such topics as the treatment of immigrants, environmental
issues, ethical issues concerning globalization, social issues such as AIDS education,