Abstract:

This paper adopts the methods of combining critical discourse analysis with corpus linguistics, quantitative and qualitative comparison between local textbooks and global textbooks, discusses cultural representation in College English textbooks, and analyzes its impact on cultural representation from the perspective of register type and language characteristics, so as to clarify the differences in structural features and social attributes of language textbooks under different social and cultural backgrounds and guiding ideology. The results show that the local materials reflect the relational thinking of Chinese philosophical thought in terms of subject matter and help to construct foreign language learners’ identities by bringing them closer to learners through dialogical genres and micro-level linguistic features, thereby recontextualizing the language materials in the local materials. On the other hand, local textbooks can be further expanded in terms of subject matter, knowledge, and international perspectives, and they also need to work on how to build China’s image and tell China’s story at the level of national consciousness. This study has implications for the writing, evaluation, and adaptation of foreign language textbooks in the new era.

Key words: critical discourse analysis, college English textbooks, corpus linguistics