You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
Some people think the increasing business and cultural contact between countries brings many positive effects. Others say it causes the loss of national identities. Discuss both of these views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
Sample Answer:
In this era of globalisation, the world is considered to be a global village as trade, tourism, politics, films, music, literature and arts are not restricted within a country’s border. This international business opportunity and cultural exchange surely bring many positive aspects while the negative impacts cannot be ignored as well. This essay delves with these two views and expresses my personal opinion on that.
On one hand, the positive outcomes of cross-cultural activities and international trade are immense. In this age of modern technology and Internet people have access to films, music, arts, language, cultural and many other aspects of other countries. The international trade and business opportunities have helped people all over the world to purchase and sell products at a competitive price and they have far more options nowadays than the past. Crops grown in a distant village or dresses designed by a rural labour have got a world market and this has helped to fight the most vicious problem in the world- hunger. Someone can feel hatred and anger to other nations only if his vision was blurred with the propaganda. For instance, Muslims around the world have a very negative image to the Western people and this could be resolved only by cultural contact. Eventually, people will find that they are all the same apart from their religious and cultural differences. So from this point, it can be inferred that cultural contact between nations can maintain the world peace.
On the other hand, people who are worried about the globalisation, international trade and cultural exchanges opine that this very trend is detrimental to a country’s own culture and tradition. They are right to some extent but I personally believe that culture is ever changing and if people exchange culture, it will not diminish their own culture. Rather it would enrich a country’s own culture. History also teaches us that many cultural and traditional aspects are borrowed from other nations and this has, in fact, a positive impact.
Considering both of these views, I would surmise that protecting our own culture or tradition would depend on us and it would not be harmed from our business relation and cultural contact with other nations. National identities are represented by its citizens and heritage and that is why when citizens of a country would be benefitted from the international business and cross-cultural contacts, they would also be able to highlight their own cultural aspect to the world.