IELTS Vocabulary: The Impact of Globalisation
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Topic specific vocabulary, boosting your lexical resource and today's topic is the impact of globalization. Hello there, my name is Ben Worthington and today we are going to not only look at some of the pros, the cons of globalization, the cultural impact that globalization can bring,

We're also going to look at some very powerful, useful vocabulary, but we're going to look at the beautiful type, which are collocations, which are basically

Two words with a higher probability of being found together using these in your speaking in your writing Make you sound more natural because the listener is half expecting the next word once you start it I'll go into more of details about this in a minute. We're also going to look at complex sentence structures basically conjunctions such as because since and thus because these help you to

develop your arguments which are insanely important we will look at some model sentences and then look at some very advanced speaking part three questions and model answers again using some of these collocations and vocabulary that we covered before

this class will be extremely valuable not only because of what I just mentioned but it's going to be useful for those students who suffer from my mind goes blank because

i've i know this situation a student will see a question about globalization the mind will go blank and they'll be like what or you know any other topic and the mind will go blank by listening to this tutorial you will afterwards you'll have a broader idea of what globalization is how you can write about it the positions the pros the cons the cultural impact all of this which is just

like stacking the deck in your favor for passing the exam. Right then, if this is your first time listening to IELTS podcast, well, well done to you. You have found one of the best resources online. We've been doing this now for over 10 years. I've been teaching for, we could say around 15, 16 years. I'm not entirely sure, but I do know I've been doing IELTS for around 12 years now.

and I got into this because students were struggling my own students and I was struggling teaching IELTS could you imagine the embarrassment the shame the frustration and I solved it by going and getting help listening to experts recording the interviews releasing them and getting to the point where we do an essay corrections

We are offering PDFs and then eventually we transition to courses. And then again, we've transitioned again to offering a ISA corrections, which you can find at IELTSpodcast.com. Let's jump into it. So globalization, cultural exchange have been have been

like being a very key part of the last 30 years especially. We're going to examine this and we're going to look at the impact it has on cultures and societies and we're also going to look at a grammar point as I just mentioned. Let's jump into this grammar point. Now when we have got our position, so we've reviewed the question. I'm jumping straight into IELTS task two now.

We've looked at IELTS Task 2. We've got our position. We know what we're going to argue about. We know what direction our body paragraph is going to take.

Now the key part is getting a clear position and then we run with it. We develop it and we do this by employing conjunctions such as because, since, thus and therefore. And what this does is it clearly links causes with their effects in a very coherent way.

So, a very basic example would be: Globalization causes an... I don't know, let's see... Globalization often... let's hedge this... Globalization often causes a distribution of ideas and businesses. For example: This is because...

global businesses want to expand and they do this by entering foreign markets and introducing new ideas and concepts and products into foreign markets since these ideas are new they can sometimes cause a cross-pollination with the local receiving country okay so we're there we just had one basic position and then we developed it further and further with using because and since

Quite straightforward. The key here, though, is just to get your position crystal clear from the beginning.

and then ask yourself why why why why and then when you're answering that you can use because and since I actually sent a student the song salt by the it's called why why why why why and she said she was listening to this song while she's writing her essays because she had this issue of getting her position but

but then just deviating it and going off on like random topics. And I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Vasantra, stick with this one idea and then ask yourself why. Why, why, why, why, why? As the song goes. So anyway.

This is, yeah, and she said she was listening to this song while she was developing her ideas just to make sure to stick to the topic. And just as I said before, sticking to it, one idea, developing it, even if it's the most simplest idea, will help you build a more coherent argument, a more coherent paragraph. Let's have a look at some of the pros and the cons regarding globalization. This is extremely important for those students who struggle with ideas.

because you know it's just a matter of filling your head up with the content related to globalization so let's have a look pros cultural diversity is enriched in metropolitan hubs due to international interactions wow that's a bit of a mouthful

Increased understanding and tolerance among different cultures. These are quite assumptions, you know, because sometimes the opposite happens depending on the culture and the actual people settling in the new country. It's quite crazy. Technological innovation spread more rapidly across borders. Global cooperation on environmental issues is facilitated. Artistic collaboration increases, leading to new forms of creative expression.

educational opportunities expand through international programs this is basically a lot of you guys this is your this is your listeners you're responsible for this one uh all the uh um

students going to Canada, Australia, the UK and bringing over your culture, your ideas, your thoughts and injecting them into the UK, Australian, Canadian education system. Cross-cultural dialogues enhance diplomatic relationships. Wow. Access to a broader range of foreign products increases consumer choice. This is what briefly what I mentioned before about companies expanding.

Health innovations and practices can be shared globally. This is because when new... I'm just going to develop this one now. Health innovations and practices can be shared globally. This is because when new cultures interact with existing cultures, there may be gaps of technology or ideas that haven't been filled by the receiving culture.

this is clear with the advent of acupuncture being from China originally originating from China being exported globally and therefore increasing the range of opportunities for those searching for alleviation of health problems such as asthma or even hay fever

Okay, and that can be developed even further with a concrete example of how acupuncture services are solving a lot of hay fever issues in countries such as Spain and the UK. Okay, so just one very brief example of how we can develop it. I'm going to keep going back to this development so we don't forget about it. The cons, the cons. Cultural hedge money.

homogenization I butchered the pronunciation of that even being a native speakers it's one of those words I haven't used for a long time cultural homogenization may lead to the loss of local identities this basically refers to I mean one example of this is the Anglo-Saxon cultural machine that goes in and steamrolls a lot of local cultures

and this was common this was quite common in Spain and especially the elder generation the older generation were concerned about Father Christmas this Anglo-Saxon idea coming in and you know bringing presents on the 25th when their traditional Christmas was on the 6th of January but now they had to start doing two Christmases because of this

barrage of anglo-saxon movies basically coming out of the US celebrating Christmas on the 25th with Father Christmas and all the other stuff and now they add two Christmases largely thanks to the USA

Another one, small communities might struggle to maintain traditional values. That's exactly what I said. Even though Spain's not a small community, it's still facing this barrage, this cultural export from the US and the UK, which basically originate from Northern Europe, practically invading this country.

this very strong culture so if the anglo-saxons are doing this to the spanish culture which is insanely strong imagine what they're doing to other cultures so got off on a tangent there rapid next point uh next con of globalization uh rapid changes can lead to social unrest and cultural clashes an example doesn't really come to mind there so i'm just going to move on

dependency in global systems makes local economies vulnerable here we could definitely talk about the US dollar and the impact it has on smaller economies and this is a very prevalent fact about globalization it's usually US dollar denominated and over reliance on technology can diminish traditional skills and knowledge here we could just talk about

again this barrage this invasion of company American companies like Facebook and Amazon and Google and diminishing local skills because now there's no chance a smaller country such as Hungary such as Slovenia such as Bhutan are ever going to build a search engine or a social media network on the scale of Google or Facebook and side note using companies

large companies multinational companies are a great way to demonstrate points in your examples increased global mobility can lead to brain drain in less developed areas i was talking about this the other day and how the uk nhs the national health service recruits abroad and is basically getting all these experts and nurses and doctors trained by countries like nigeria and hungary and

I don't know Brazil Argentina whatever and the NHS is recruiting them and then benefiting and just picking them up and the UK never paid for these skills but it's still benefiting from them and it's almost like the lesser developed countries are subsidizing the UK health system

you know and this is like one of the big drawbacks of globalization for the smaller countries and it's a massive advantage for countries such as the UK and it's incredibly unfair but you know we're not going to solve it on this podcast I'm just going to mention it so these are some of the drawbacks of globalization let's have a look at some topic specific vocabulary related to this topic cultural diversity

we could very easily talk about cultural diversity in the NHS because of the recruitment practices of the NHS recruiting abroad because we don't have these skills in the UK global cooperation technological innovations you know I was talking that before about Bhutan not being able to develop hypothetically Bhutan or Nepal or whatever country not being able to develop technological innovations

because of you know Google and Facebook monopolizing that in environment but it's also you know they're also bringing free search and free social media free packaging and all these innovations to the country and would the country have these if the Americans if the American companies weren't invading with these companies I don't know so again it's quite a tricky topic

cultural homogenization so maybe in 50 years the 6th of January the Catholic

Christmas, Christmas Day has disappeared and it's all on the 25th. I'm just, I'm just giving you an idea here, you know, and it's all Anglo-Saxon. Everybody supports, I don't know, the LA Lakers and Manchester United. Just, just going off on a tangent here, but I'm just giving you an idea because some people are genuinely worried about losing their own country.

largely due to this Anglo-Saxon cultural machinery, which is incredibly powerful. Traditional values disappearing, environmental degradation, cultural commodification. That's a beautiful term going back to this Anglo-Saxon cultural machine I keep mentioning. Brain drain happening to countries subsidizing the NHS in the UK, so on and so forth.

Let's have a look at some model sentences. Because of global cooperation on climate change, significant advancements have been made in renewable energy technologies. Beautiful. Technological innovations have spread rapidly as countries collaborate more closely on research and development.

International programs in education have led to... Can you see how we just link it there? It's a great little phrase. International programs in education have led to an increase in cultural exchange among students. Artistic collaboration across borders enables a fusion of styles that enrich the global art scene. Nothing comes to mind there. Art is not my area of expertise. Now,

This is a classic example like, okay, my mind goes blank. I've got no idea about artistic collaboration across borders. What's the next step? How do I solve this? If I'm serious about passing IELTS, I don't want any topics where my mind goes blank.

So in this case, what you do is you jump online, go to Google and you put "artistic collaboration across borders" and you just read a quick article about it, extract some vocabulary and bang! Now you've got a rough idea about artistic collaboration across borders. Traditional values are often compromised because of the influence of global media. Again, personally, nothing comes to mind.

I'm really trying to think of an example. Again, in this case, what do I do? I jump on Google, read an article about traditional values being compromised because of the influence of global media and research it, pull some vocabulary, pull some sentences out of there, put it in my notebook, job done.

brain drain can occur because talented individuals often move to more developed countries for better opportunities that's exactly what I was saying about the NHS brain drain okay this is a very very common accusation against globalization final one as societies become more interconnected

Cultural homogenization, homogenization, that's the word.

becomes a growing concern that was what i was talking about before about father christmas dominating the festive christmas period instead of the three kings and all the rest of the other celebrations as well it's not just spain that's getting bombarded by father christmas on the 25th other countries um definitely are as well

Let's have a look at speaking part three, questions and model answers. Why do you think cultural exchange is important? Cultural exchange is crucial. Can you see how we modified the synonym there? It didn't use the same vocabulary we just heard. We modified it. That's a higher level skill. That's what we're going to in our course. Cultural exchange is crucial because it broadens understanding and fosters empathy.

among different societies. Here I would have hedged that. And as I said, can often broaden understanding and fosters and can sometimes foster empathy among different societies. By experienced cultural diversity, individuals can appreciate the richness of human cultures and the benefits of global harmony. Not bad.

Should governments regulate cultural content in media to prevent homogenization? This is a good answer because we start with a conjunction, which is a higher level.

While it's important to preserve cultural diversity, governments should be cautious not to impose strict regulations on media content as this could stifle free expression and cultural exchange. Balance is key to protecting cultural identity while promoting global understanding.

Not too bad. What role do technological innovations play in cultural exchange? Technological innovations have revolutionized how cultures interact and share ideas.

Through technology, people can instantly connect across the globe, which enables a faster and wider spread of cultural practices and knowledge. Here's a good opportunity. Here's how I would improve this answer. I'd just insert an example. Through technology, people can instantly connect across the globe. This technology includes such as WhatsApp, Viber.

tiktok facebook and these enable a faster and wider spread of cultural practices and knowledge okay you see how it just strengthens the argument by just putting a real world example in there how has globalization affected traditional cultures globalization has led to both the spread and erosion of traditional cultures

this is what I've... let me just carry on because this is the linking, the development while some aspects are preserved through global interest others are overshadowed by more dominant cultures leading to cultural homogenization

for example in Spain XYZ and then I would just develop it a little bit further why would I develop this one and not something about art well I'm going to develop this one because I know the subject I can talk about it with confidence if the examiner had asked me about art I would have said something like imagine the question how is globalization affected art globally

I would have said to be honest this isn't something I know a lot about but I am guessing that because globalization spreads ideas and cultures I'm assuming the same would happen with art and I'm guessing art styles from various countries would be introduced into other countries and I'm assuming that it might lead to hybrids hybrid art forms

or just a melting pot of ideas and because art does rely on creativity i'm guessing it would be beneficial but i'm not an expert on this so this is just my estimation okay so there i'm just

bluffing or blagging my way through it but I'm doing it some you know we know globalization spread of ideas and cultures let's apply this to to art and we know as I just said relies on creativity so you know if you've got a rough idea like I as I said before I don't know anything about art but I'm not going to stop and say in the exam I don't know anything about art I'm sorry no you have to push on you have to guess

because you can't just stop there. You've got to say something. Even if it's just a guess, you say it's a guess, you say it's an estimation and you know, you're still going to do well assuming you pull it off. You're still going to do well because you're like guessing, you're hypothesizing and these are higher language capabilities. Right, that's it from me. I'm wishing you a beautiful day. I'm wishing you all the best in your IELTS exam.

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