There is a centrality of language as an economic activity in the globalized economy since language has become a commodity under two specific and emerging characteristics of its exchange value: language as a means of production and a product.

By characterizing language as a means of production and as a product, Heller (2005, 2010), sharing Cameron’s view (2002), argues that languages are commodified under the language-as-skill approach, i.e., they are considered a technical skill, standardized and controlled through the industrial techniques advocated in the Taylorist mode of production. Under the language-as-authenticity approach, language is commodified as a brand or symbol of authenticity that adds value to niche markets, distinguishing them from standardized products with already saturated markets.

Heller (2005, 2010) contextualizes and situates the centrality of language as a technical skill based on the changes brought about by the new globalized economy, in which knowledge is the basis of production and therefore leads to reorganization and restructuring in companies, as well as the expansion of the service and information sectors.

The author points out that companies have decentralized decision-making, established standards and responsibilities for the organization, and control of work activities by their employees. In addition, the production and distribution of knowledge are mediated by computerized technology, which demands new modes of production based on complex literacy skills and the rapid and effective mobilization of various forms of communication. These new directions in presentation and display result in the emergence of communicative skills at work and, in turn, the demand for language workers (HELLER, 2005).

Heller (2003, 2005, 2010) and Cameron (2002) point out that this, which can be understood as a new work order (GEE; LANKSHEAR, 1996), is established as a policy of making the individual responsible for acquiring and improving these communication skills, which Cameron (2002) has called the ‘culture of self-improvement,’ to obtain a place in the global labor market.

In this sense, Heller (2005) reports that the new work order emphasizes flexibility in improving these communicative competencies, considering them as sets of work skills that can be acquired or enhanced by workers according to the needs or requirements of the job, increasing their value as a technician or professional with linguistic skills. Therefore, it implies treating communicative competencies as objectified, measurable, and standardized skills.

Applied linguists Cameron (2000, 2002), Cameron and Block (2002), Block (2002) and Graddol (1997) have already discussed the new demands for human capital training in work situations and sectors where communication and oral language skills are becoming increasingly important due to the rapid growth of the third sector of the economy in global teleworking and service industries.

Cameron (2000, 2002) understands that new concepts are now attributed to “communication” and “skill” and are products of contemporary globalization. According to her, these are strictly related to changes in how human work is organized caused by intensified competition, worldwide economic competition, and changes in the concept of knowledge due to the information revolution.

These new meanings, explains Cameron (2002), include the fact that oral communication has gone from being an ordinary skill among human beings to a complex task that requires special efforts and investments to achieve since it has become an imperative part of the tasks linked to the area of information technologies.

In addition to the centrality of language as a technical skill, Heller (2003, 2005, 2010) believes that the economic activity of language as a symbol of authenticity in the globalized economy is one of the most apparent effects and, in this case, language applies and adds value to this authenticity. The author recalls that standardized products were valued and exchanged as an indicator of modernity in the context of the Fordist economy. In contrast, she believes that in the context of the new economy, languages are the indicators of the authenticity of products, which give them an exchange value, i.e., a commodity.

By inserting regional or local symbols, brands, words, phrases, and texts of a particular language into generally standardized products, these become more prominent than others on the consumer market. In this way, as a product, a good, or a commodity, language is considered a symbol of authenticity that adds value to niche markets and differentiates them from standardized, low-trade products.

Heller (2003, 2005, 2010) considers that a product’s authentic or stylized reproduction turns the language into a symbol that gives the brand and the effect a cultural identification (identifiable cultural products). The high economic investment in launching brands that confer authenticity on products consists of balancing the local cultural relationship of a given language and its country of prestige with the commercialization of the product on the international market.

In sum, Heller (2005) believes that linguistic hegemony becomes an important symbolic element of authenticity, but it can be a significant obstacle for consumers who speak less prestigious languages. She (2010) points out that some areas or spaces have traditionally constituted specific values as products of modernity, such as tourism, translation, marketing, and language teaching.

In the face of new global economic conditions, these and other spaces, such as call centers and performance art, are gradually becoming involved in symbolic dimensions of value aggregation and the distribution of commodified linguistic resources.

References:

BLOCK, D.; CAMERON, D. (Org.) Globalization and language teaching. London: Routledge, 2002.

CAMERON, D. (Org.). Globalization and language teaching. London: Routledge, 2002. p. 67-82.

CAMERON, D. Commodification of language: English as a global commodity. Oxford: The Oxford Handbook of the History of English, 2012.

GRADDOL, D. The future of English. London: British Council, 1997.

HELLER, M. Language, skill and authenticity in the globalized new economy. Noves SL. Revista de Sociolinguística, Winter, 2005. Disponível em: <http://www.gencat.cat/llengua/noves/noves/hm05hivern/docs/heller.pdf>. Acesso em: 20 abr. 2013.

HELLER, M. The commodification of language. Annual Review Anthropology, v. 39, p. 101-114, 2010.