Languages in a global world. Learning for better cultural understanding

This book questions why some individuals are more successful than others at learning non-native languages, and why some education systems, or countries, are more successful than others at teaching languages. Language learning is not only a means of improved communication, but more importantly it plays a key role in promoting global understanding and respecting cultural differences. This publication explores language learning all across the globe, in countries ranging from France to Kazakhstan to Taiwan. It provides a fundamental sense of the centrality of language and culture to humanity both at present and into the future. It invites a humanitarian dialogue about language and culture around the world.
The book’s structure is designed with chapters written by different authors on the subject of language learning. These individual authors bring a wide range of perspectives and research experience to this subject. For example, there are chapters on the role of motivation in non-native language learning; the way that languages, cultures and identities are connected; and the insights that neuroscience provides into how the brain understands and produces language.
http://www.oecd.org/document/48/0,3746,en_21571361_49995565_49697008_1_1...