Transnational communication in a 'glocalized' world: in search of balanced multilingualism

Abstract. After the fall of the Ussr, the use of english between non-native speakers spread even more than it had before. this situation has no precedent in the history of mankind, hence there is no straightforward answer to the question of how to deal with it. On the one hand, english non-native speakers are now more numerous than english native speakers, challenging the relevance of the distinction. On the other hand, local identities aspire to be promoted to national identities in various parts of the world, even if speakers of languages of well-established nation-states are not comfortable with this. I argue that in the 21th century language policy and planning experts as well as language activists cannot deal with the global level (spread of English) without also considering the supranational and national levels, together with all the complexity of local situations. This new situation, often summarized by the motto ‘think globally, act locally’, can be described with the term ‘glocalization’.