ABSTRACT
The issue of globalization has spawned num erous debates in English Stud ies, resulting in a search for new pedagogies, theories, and methodologies that reflect the new sociocultural, political, and economic realities. It has led to the publication of m onographs, essays, and special issues ofjournals on the subject, most recently the PM IA (January 2001) and the TESOL Qjiarterly (Autumn 2000). Globalization, the interconnectedness of the world in a single global marketplace, which shapes politics and in terna tional relations, is seen by many as an essentially liberating phenom enon that aids in the democratization of societies and individuals (Friedman, 1999; Markee, 2000; Warschauer, 2000). Although the United States is at the forefront of the globalization process, social inequities concerning u n equal access to im portant resources such as education within the United States rem ain disquieting. At a university heavily supported by an infusion of funds as a result of a Mexican American Legal Defense Fund suit-a law
suit against the state of Texas for its lack of facilities of higher education for underrepresented populations-we need to be more cautious in our cele bration of globalization and instead foreground the problems of access and academic success.
