Globalisation is rarely named outright in IELTS, but it’s behind a lot of questions. In Writing Task 2, you may be asked to discuss whether international trade benefits poorer countries or only big corporations; whether local traditions are disappearing because the same brands and films are everywhere; whether it’s a good thing that skilled professionals move abroad for work. In Speaking Part 3, the examiner may ask why different cities sell the same things and whether the whole world should speak one language. To answer precisely, you need collocations about trade, culture, migration and inequality, not a vague the world is changing.
The most noticeable trap in this topic is a phrase from old school textbooks. Third World countries may sound neutral to you, but in modern English it comes across as dated, and many people find it condescending. In an essay about globalisation, you need developing countries or low-income countries. The second trap is a preposition: learners often write dependent from, but in English it’s dependent on.
Below are 30 collocations in four subtopics, the typical mistakes people make with them, and an example of how LetsWords gives feedback on a sentence you’ve written. You’ll find the other exam topics in our overview of IELTS vocabulary by topic.
Globalisation: words and collocations
Global trade and corporations
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| the global economy | the economy of the world as a whole | No country today can isolate itself from the global economy. |
| international trade | buying and selling between countries | International trade allows consumers to buy fruit grown on the other side of the world. |
| multinational corporations | large companies that operate in many countries | Multinational corporations employ people in dozens of countries. |
| remove trade barriers | to get rid of obstacles to trade, such as tariffs | Removing trade barriers made imported goods much cheaper. |
| outsource production | to have goods made by another company, often abroad | Many clothing brands outsource production to countries with lower wages. |
| cheap labour | workers who are paid low wages | Factories moved east in search of cheap labour. |
| attract foreign investment | to get money invested by companies from other countries | Low taxes helped the region attract foreign investment. |
| become increasingly interconnected | to be more and more closely linked | National economies have become increasingly interconnected, so a crisis in one country quickly spreads to others. |
Culture and identity
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| global brands | brands sold all over the world | Global brands have made high streets in different countries look almost identical. |
| the spread of Western culture | Western culture becoming common elsewhere | Critics blame Hollywood for the spread of Western culture at the expense of local cinema. |
| cultural identity | what makes a group culturally distinct | Language is a key part of a nation’s cultural identity. |
| cultural homogenisation | cultures becoming more and more alike | Cultural homogenisation is most visible in what young people eat, wear and watch. |
| adapt to local tastes | to change a product to suit local preferences | Fast-food chains adapt their menus to local tastes, for example by serving rice dishes in Asia. |
| be exposed to other cultures | to come into contact with other cultures | Children who are exposed to other cultures tend to be more open-minded. |
| a global language | a language used all over the world | English has become the global language of business and science. |
| the global village | the world seen as one connected community | The internet has turned the world into a global village. |
People without borders
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| the free movement of people | the right to live and work in other countries | The free movement of people allows nurses to work wherever they are needed. |
| migrant workers | people who move to another country for work | Migrant workers send a large part of their earnings back home. |
| seek work abroad | to look for a job in another country | Thousands of young graduates seek work abroad every year. |
| brain drain | the loss of skilled people to other countries | Brain drain deprives poorer countries of the doctors they trained. |
| study abroad | to study in another country | More students than ever choose to study abroad. |
| international cooperation | countries working together | Pandemics show that international cooperation is not optional. |
| tackle global problems | to deal with problems that affect the whole world | Global problems such as climate change can only be tackled by countries working together. |
Winners and losers
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| developing countries | countries with less developed economies | Developing countries often rely on exports of raw materials. |
| open up to foreign trade | to start allowing trade with other countries | China began to open up to foreign trade in the late 1970s. |
| global supply chains | the international network that makes and delivers goods | The pandemic showed how fragile global supply chains can be. |
| exploit workers | to treat workers unfairly for profit | Some suppliers exploit workers by forcing them to do unpaid overtime. |
| job losses | jobs that disappear | The closure of the steel plant led to thousands of job losses. |
| struggle to compete with | to find it hard to compete with | Small local shops struggle to compete with international chains. |
| be dependent on | to need something in order to survive or succeed | Many farmers are dependent on prices set on the world market. |
Common mistakes
Third world countries benefit from cheap imports.
Correct: Developing countries benefit from cheap imports. The term Third World dates from the Cold War. Today it sounds dated and often condescending. In academic writing, use developing countries, low-income countries or poorer nations.
Nowadays countries are very dependent from each other.
Correct: Nowadays countries are heavily dependent on each other or highly interdependent. Dependent and depend are followed by on, just like rely on. In essays about globalisation, dependent from comes up all the time.
Globalisation has a strong influence to local cultures.
Correct: Globalisation has a strong influence on local cultures. The nouns influence, impact and effect take on: an impact on jobs, an effect on prices. The pattern is covered in the have an impact exercise, and the difference between affect and effect in the affect vs effect exercise.
Rich countries import a lot of cheap good from Asia.
Correct: Rich countries import a lot of cheap goods from Asia. You’re talking about many products, so you need goods: a lot of cheap goods.
How LetsWords explains mistakes like these
While you’re reading the table, every word looks familiar. The mistakes appear when you write something yourself. Here’s what one task looks like in LetsWords.
You’re reviewing cheap labour. LetsWords shows you its meaning in your native language, you recall the English expression and write a sentence about global trade:
Many Western company move their factories in Asia because of cheap labour.
You chose cheap labour correctly, but the feedback, which LetsWords gives in your native language, finds two mistakes around it:
- company → companies: after many, a countable noun is plural;
- in Asia → to Asia: after a verb of movement, the direction is introduced with to; in says where something already is.
Many Western companies move their factories to Asia because of cheap labour.
A few days later, the expression comes back in review, and you use it in a different situation, for example in a paragraph about who benefits from globalisation. That’s how a collocation on a list becomes one you can recall and use without mistakes.
Start practising with feedback on your mistakes
When you sign up, you choose IELTS as your goal and your level, and LetsWords picks the right practice for you. You can try the feedback before you pay.
Using these collocations in Writing Task 2
A practice task in the exam format:
Some people believe that globalisation benefits everyone, while others argue that it mainly helps rich countries and large companies. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
A sample paragraph that sets out the first view and answers the objection straight away:
Supporters of globalisation argue that trade, rather than aid, has been the main route out of poverty for many poorer nations. When multinational corporations outsource production to developing countries, they create factory jobs and help these countries attract foreign investment. Vietnam is often cited as an example: since it began to open up to foreign trade, millions of its citizens have escaped poverty. Critics are right that such jobs are often poorly paid and that profits flow back to company headquarters. Nevertheless, for many workers a factory wage is still a significant improvement on subsistence farming, and the skills they gain allow the next generation to move into better-paid work.
Why the paragraph works. The task asks you to discuss both views, and the paragraph sets out one of them fairly without turning into a summary: the critics’ objection is acknowledged and then weighed with Nevertheless. Instead of a vague big companies help poor countries, there’s a chain of cause and effect: production moves → factory jobs → investment → a way out of poverty. The Vietnam example makes the claim concrete and convincing. The topic terms appear in precise collocations, without a pile-up of rare words.
Using them in Speaking
A Part 3 question:
Do you think globalisation is making cultures around the world too similar?
A sample answer:
To some extent, yes. You can find the same global brands and coffee chains in almost every big city, and teenagers everywhere watch the same series. But I don’t think local traditions are disappearing. In my country, for example, people still celebrate traditional holidays, and some young people are actually more interested in their cultural identity precisely because they’re exposed to other cultures online.
The answer starts with a direct reaction to the question, then adds a contrast and an example from real life. That’s all Part 3 needs: the topic vocabulary is there, and it sounds like conversation, not a memorised essay.
Practise for free
- have an impact: influence with the right preposition;
- affect vs effect: a verb and a noun that even native speakers mix up;
- economic vs economical: about the economy or saving money;
- take advantage of: make use of an opportunity or of someone’s weakness;
- play a role: play a part in the global economy;
- go abroad: move abroad without an extra to;
- nevertheless: a linking word for answering an objection.
From the list to real use
A list helps you recognise brain drain when you read it, but in an essay you have to recall the collocation yourself and get the preposition right, as in dependent on. Move from the list to real use with LetsWords: practise with the IELTS collection for your level and add collocations from this page to a collection, for example outsource production or cultural identity. You recall each expression from its meaning, write a sentence with it, and LetsWords points out the mistake and explains it in your native language (Russian, Korean or Vietnamese), while spaced repetition brings the expression back until it feels natural. Globalisation vocabulary is useful in Writing too: the IELTS Writing section has Task 2 prompts on why young people are losing interest in traditions (the Family and culture topic) and on online communities versus face-to-face contact (the Society topic), and every full answer gets detailed feedback on all four criteria. When you sign up, you answer a few questions about your goal and level, and LetsWords picks your practice; you can try the feedback before you pay. For vocabulary on other topics, see our IELTS vocabulary by topic.