Education for globalization: cultural diversity and multilingualism

Abstract

In the process known as globalization, cultures, languages and ways of living converge creating a different society, one in which multilingualism plays a main role, having its reflection in education.

It is interesting, from this point of view, to define the real necessities of these multilingual and multicultural students, in order to adequate the curricula for a better acquisition of competences. However, one of the problems of educating in a multicultural society is that establishing priorities, sometimes, creates a feeling of lost, devaluation of a language and the culture it represents.

Based on the premises previously considered, it is a main issue to take into account the richness of every single culture so as to change that feeling. Globalization needs to become an exchange of knowledge, and education is one of the tools for this purpose.

Therefore, the aim of this brief study is to analyze the development of the concepts of multilingualism and cultural diversity, and how they interact with education, taking into consideration, both their benefits and also the difficulties derive from their implementation.