A brief look at our past, and the context in which it arose, establishes the necessity for us to look at our context today and ask ourselves how similar forces of social change may be finding reflection in our classroom practices, something which we may not otherwise be aware of. The question is an important one, because it will be important for us to see if there may be differences between what is happening in language education and what we would like to happen. Education has a crucial role in shaping the future as we would like it to be, and this is no less true for us, involved in language education. This is something to which I will return shortly, but let me first turn to the social context of today and what it may offer for the future and suggest some links to what is happening now in language teaching.