Americans havegrown concerned over the proliferation of other languages, due largely to the rapidly influx of immigrants into the United States. This movement demonstrates the extreme sensitivity of cultural issues, and the visceral reaction that many people have to what they perceive to be threats to their traditional ways of life. Such efforts to protect the English language within the United States are a form of cultural protection. Any who doubt the depth of concern by people around the world about the effects that globalization is having on their local cultures, might keep in mind these kinds of reactions even within the United States. In the midst of the country that is often accused of "culturally colonizing" the rest of the world, the introduction of foreign cultural elements can generate significant politicalpressure to protect local traditions and values.