Research On Gender Representation In International Chinese Language Textbooks

In recent years,as the issue of gender equality has aroused extensive and heated discussion around the world,the research on gender issues in textbooks has also received more and more attention in the field of textbook research.However,most of the relevant domestic studies focus on the Chinese textbooks for primary and secondary schools,and there are few studies on gender representation in international Chinese textbooks.As an important tool for foreign learners to learn Chinese and understand Chinese culture,international Chinese textbooks exhibit concepts and attitudes that affect learners’ understanding of China.Therefore,under the current social background of world’s pursuit of gender equality it is of great significance to explore whether international Chinese textbooks reflect gender equality.The research takes the textbook "Contemporary Chinese"(revised)as the main research object.Through the methods of quantitative analysis and text analysis,it classifies and inspects the setting of virtual characters,the arrangement of illustrations,the text in the form of character conversation,and the text in the form of narrative text in the textbook,including the frequency of appearance,occupational characteristics,the discourse power in conversation and the images displayed in the narrative text.Through analysis and research,it is found that there is obvious gender inequality in the textbook "Contemporary Chinese"(revised): whether in the text or in the illustrations,the appearance rate of female characters is far lower than that of men,and in the public sphere of social life,the types of occupations involved are less than that of men,while in the private sphere of family life,they bear more family responsibilities than men.In conversation,the independent conversation between women is far less than that between men.In mixed conversation,women always play a guided and auxiliary role.In the narrative text,some of the statements used by the editor have obvious sexism.Although the topic of gender equality has been discussed in the text,it still follows the thinking logic of male subjects.The textbook of Contemporary Chinese(revised)needs further improvement in gender equality.Based on existing research,this research proposes that international Chinese language textbooks need to handle the relationship between gender roles in reflecting reality and reflecting equality,increase the frequency of women’s appearance and initiative in conversation,abandon stereotypes of different genders in terms of profession and family,and avoid using language with gender discrimination,hoping to provide reference for the development of international Chinese textbooks for overseas promotion.