ABSTRACT
This chapter looks, how globalization processes impact on translation theory and practice by looking into the current processes of globalization and their social, political, economic and linguistic consequences on contemporary life, institutions and the workplace. It also discusses the role of the English language in its function as a global lingua franca and the way it might affect the nature and frequency of translation worldwide. The conclusion drawn in this chapter will be that far from damaging the demand for translation, processes of globalization and internationalization are also responsible for a drastic increase in the demand for translations. Globalization and translation are closely intertwined: linguistic superdiversity across the globe is part of globalization and of the growing necessity to translate. In order to investigate what globalization does to discourse, we need to examine how language functions in different societies and language needs to be broken down in richly contextualized forms that occur in society.
