Internet Identity and Bilingualism

The Internet is the world’s largest library open to many authors and even more consumers.  The globalization of the Internet allows authors to create information in their primary language.  So much information is available that it can be overwhelming.  How does a bicultural and bilingual (English and Spanish) consumer find and retrieve information?  How does our cultural identity play into the way that we look for information on the Internet?  This research project proposes begins examining this topic.  Using mediated action, three bilingual marine educators were observed navigating through a bilingual website relevant to their professional development.  Despite being able to read in both languages, educators preferred to navigate the marine science website in English unless they had a specific language need in Spanish.  Personal cultural identity played a minor role in finding information on the Internet.  Instead the cultural language of the desired content plays a bigger role on how items are searched.  In order for scientific information to be more accessible to a larger population, websites need to be available in other languages other than English.  Availability goes beyond straight translation of information but also creating culturally accessible-designed websites.