'Global issue' is the topic, theme or problem that is explored throughout the Individual Oral (IO).  In your IO, you will explore how a global issue is presented in a literary work, a non-literary work and extracts from each. But what, exactly, is a global issue? A global issue has three qualities: 

• transnational
• significant
• relevant to local contexts

How to formulate a global issue

Notice how the examples all follow a kind of formula. They are big noun phrases that start with 'how' and identify a causal relationship. They articulate both the cause and effect of a problem. They also have connections to the seven concepts (identity, transformation, representation, culture, communication, creativity and perspective) and they are taken from one of the 5 'fields of inquiry'. 

It helps to think of global issues as themes that appear somewhere on a ladder of abstraction. A 'ladder of abstraction' is a representation of how real-life people and situations connect to abstract ideas. Below is an example of a ladder of abstraction that includes racism. Notice how the words in the list below go from the concrete and specific to the abstract and general. What global issue can you realistically explore in a 10-minute oral? The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle, where racism leads to social strife and protest. 

Course outline

While not required by the IB, you may find it useful to organise units of inquiry by global issue. Even though it is a term that is most relevant to the IO, it provides a useful tool for tackling every non-literary and literary work. Essentially, students are asked to identify universal problems and their effects on humanity after reading each text. What's more, good textual analysis on any form of assessment will explore a causal relationship between authorial intent, authorial choices and reader response. These choices are often made to comment on real-world problems (or global issues).