The Cultural Representation of Chinese Speaking Others in Localized CFL/CSL Textbooks

A growing body of localized Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) textbooks are produced in various worldwide regions. Local education policies, influenced by a trend towards multicultural education, have shaped Chinese cultural representation in these textbooks to discursively include groups of overseas Chinese and Chinese ethnic minorities. However, a scarcity of studies have critically investigated the cultural representation of diverse Chinese-speaking groups in CFL textbooks. This paper critically examined the cultural representation of Chinese-speaking groups in CFL textbooks produced in regions including the United States, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Russia, and Italy. Analysis and discussions are offered with respect to three interconnecting cultural themes, i.e. character setting ; context of conversations; selection of cultural products. Our findings have demonstrated ample examples of strategical representation of Chinese-speaking Others. We also provided realistic suggestions that will contribute to future design of CFL textbooks in collaboration with diverse Chinese-speaking groups around the world for a more diverse portrayal of the Chinese linguistic and cultural communities.


Introduction
Language and culture are inevitably intertwined.Language is an essential stakeholder in the construction of knowledge and mind as well as communication of global and local cultural content between interlocutors.Speakers of the same language can belong to different socio-cultural groups (Kramsch, 2014(Kramsch, , 2015) ) and culture is continuously shaped by language speakers from different ethnicities and nations.For example, with an increasing number of Muslims from the Middle East migrating to Europe, Islamic culture is becoming more prevalent in European countries.With the global spread of capitalism, major world languages such as English and Chinese have assumed the status as "vehicular language" or "linguistic/cultural capital", or "collective goods" across most states (Swaan, 2002;O'Regan, 2021).Globalization has spawned extensive cultural transformations on multiple fronts such as prevailing ideals of free market, intensified social networks, and large-scale global migration (O'Regan, 2021).The rapidly changing world has rendered it vital to prepare students for a changing global society (Bellanca, 2010;Colvin & Edwards, 2018).Facing the unprecedented changes, however, our educational institutions have not yet readily captured this reality (Chaplle, 2016), and the status quo may perpetuate existing stereotypes in society and render them unable to instruct students adequately and prepare them for entering into society.
Learning a language means not only acquiring a variety of linguistic repertories (Cenoz & Gorter, 2011), but also acquiring "access to a wealth of historical knowledge, a culture shaped by centuries of language use by members of the same national, regional or ethnic community" (Kramsch, 2014, p. 406).Heritage language learners, for instance, learning the language of their ancestors allows them to take pride in their membership in the ethnicity (Heller, 2003) and simultaneously construct a hybrid identity (Norton, 2013).Responding to the challenges brought about by globalization, cultural pedagogy in foreign language education is undergoing a transformation shift from a national paradigm to a transnational paradigm (Risager, 2007).A national paradigm typically "aligns language use and ethnic or cultural group identity in a…one-on-one relationship" (Blommaert et al., 2013, p. 3) and tends to select essential knowledge to represent the central culture of the nation while simplifying other cultural groups, such as peripheral speakers, minority communities and diaspora communities (Chapelle, 2009;Canale, 2016).In the age of globalization, however, with the emerging of neo-liberalism that highlight the free mobility of capital and labor, more and more learners are pursuing to gain some other attached values of the language, that contributed by its extensive international speakers (Kubota, 2016).Against the backdrop, the postmodernist transnational paradigm celebrates multiculturalism and argues that curriculums include the diversity of the target language's nation to satisfy various needs of students, enhance learning motivation, and cultivate crosscultural competence and critical thinking (Chapelle, 2016;Risager, 2018;Weninger & Kiss, 2015).
Textbooks are politicized commodities that play a fundamental role in providing learners with authoritative linguistic and cultural information (Apple, 2014;Canale, 2016;Luke, 1989), and shape a specific identity for users (Matsuda, 2002).A bulk of research has investigated the issue of cultural representation of legitimate native speakers and the Others in relation to English as a world language (e.g., Schneer, 2007;Setyono & Widodo, 2019;Yamanaka, 2006) and, to a lesser extent, other languages.For example, Chapelle (2009) proposed that international French language teaching should not only center on the French of France, but also on legitimate French dialects spoken in the periphery of the Francophone world (e.g., Québecois), as well as on French-based creoles.Azimova and Johnston (2012) argued that the Russian language and culture is not owned solely by the "white, middle-class, Orthodox Christian ethnic Russians living in the Russian Federation, most common in large cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg" (p. 346), but also by a large number of residents in countries that were once part of the Soviet Union.Thompson (2013) found that in addition to ethno-Islamic Swahili first language (L1) speakers living in Tanzania and Kenya, many second language (L2) Swahili speakers in East-Africa now consider themselves native speakers of Swahili.These studies have found that language textbooks tend to give little attention to marginalized groups, though they deserve a place in them.
So far, a scarcity of studies have critically investigated the cultural representation of diverse Chinese-speaking groups in CFL textbooks edited by Hanban (i.e., Office of Chinese Language Council International).Comments pointed that Han ethnic groups receive a dominant emphasis while ethnic minorities are marginalized (Hong & He, 2015;Kirkebaek, 2016;Wang, 2016); furthermore, the social and cultural contents of the People's Republic of China's (PRC) CFL textbooks are sometimes at odds with the expectations from overseas Cantonese-speaking groups and Taiwanese groups who hold different political interests and values (Duff at el., 2013;Zhu & Li, 2014).Textbooks produced in mainland China have also been found to lack editorial finesse and global perspectives to engage the learning goals of international students in some regions (Curdt-Christiansen, 2008;Li, 2015;Xiong & Peng, 2020).As textbooks are a commodity produced by commercial publishing houses, in which editors have to care the amount of circulation (Fuchs & Henne, 2018;Gray, 2010a), the doctrine of obeying local "politically correct" have authors shun to represent non-mainland Han Chinese and oversimplify or obfuscate ethnic minorities in CFL/CSL textbooks (Chou, 2011;White, 2008).
Given the promotion of a transnational paradigm in cultural pedagogy that cultivating multicultural, global, and critical perspectives to students is a global agenda, we strive to cast light on the diverse Chinese-speaking groups in localized CFL/CSL textbooks.Aligned with the above trend of focusing on a transnational paradigm and building upon the work of previous textbook studies interrogating representations of a pan-Chinese world (Hua et al, 2021), this paper aims to investigate how multiple Chinese-speaking groups are represented in localized CFL/CSL textbooks produced in multiple countries, as well as what implications can be drawn.It is hoped that the empirically driven implications could promote the prevalence and centrality of mandarin Chinese, meanwhile, global speakers can collectively share the increased net benefits from the language.

Chinese-speaking Others in the Age of Globalization
The Chinese speakers other than Han people of the Chinese mainland or the so called "Chinesespeaking Others" in this paper refer to three groups: the non-mainland Han Chinese (i.e., resident in Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan), the Chinese diaspora (e.g., resident in Singapore, Malaysia, America, and Europe), and the Chinese ethnic minority (e.g., Mongolian, Manchu, and Tibetan).As witnessed by a growing number of Chinese heritage language learners worldwide along with a wave of Chinese immigration, a large number of Chinese families who have immigrated from mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, seek to teach their kids Chinese language and culture overseas.Localized CFL/CSL teaching holds a great deal of potential in engaging the needs of these diverse immigrant families in which traditional Chinese culture in Taiwan and Hong Kong-a mandarin dialect Cantonese speaking area-are largely contained.It is of vital significance that after the Kuomintang (KMT) party moved from mainland China to Taiwan in 1950, a large number of Chinese from Taiwan and Hong Kong went abroad to study and work every year.Many of them have had a powerful influence in local communities such as Steven Chu, Yo-Yo Ma, Andrew Young, and Elaine Chao.Faced with the swirl of We-media's influence, conversations about Taiwan and Hong Kong issues cannot be simply ignored in the local region.Chou (2011), therefore, suggested that American produced CFL/CSL textbooks should not shy away from sensitive, taboo, and awkward subjects in Chinese politics, otherwise students will be lack in a panromantic view of China.
Due to historical, political, and sociocultural reasons, localized or internationalized Chinese cultures in many Chinese diaspora communities worldwide, as a kind of the pan-Chinese culture, differ from the contemporary culture in mainland China.For example, localized Chinese cultures in Singapore, California, Japan, and other countries have developed a unique culture after the passing of a hundred years of history.With the prevalence of global media and social networks, localized Chinese cultures are also well-known around the world such as traditional fellow association or family's clan halls, local Han people's traditional rite, traditional Chinese characters, and even fortune cookies.Informed by the transnational paradigm (Risager, 2007), reflecting this reality and involve the internationalized or localized Chinese cultures in the modern CFL/CSL textbooks is necessary.By empowering the localized Chinese diaspora culture as a type of legitimized Chinese culture, the CFL/CSL textbooks will be compatible to accommodate the identity construction of third or fourth generation Chinese immigrant families and the local foreigners who live in Chinese diaspora communities.
Along with the development of the Belt and Road (B & R) Initiative, a growing number of CFL learners in China's west and south neighboring countries are learning Mandarin Chinese through local education institutions.In these regions, many CFL teachers are not Han Chinese but Chinese ethnic minorities.Although their parent language is not Mandarin Chinese, they are often proficient Chinese speakers.To local CFL learners, Chinese ethnic minorities are their main Chinese practitioners and, furthermore, their imagined Chinese native speakers.Thus, recognize these ethnic minorities as a legitimate Chinese native speaker identity and represent this Chinese ethnic minority culture in our CFL education will not impede those learners' adaption and integration into the identity of ethnic minority's native Chinese speakers.
Above all, the spread of its usage throughout the world had led to the status of Chinese as a transnational language by the increasing numbers of heterogeneous CSL users and the existence of varieties of pan-Chinese culture.The global spread of Chinese vis-à-vis French, Russian, Spanish, and Arabic languages raises the similar issue of its "ownership" amidst the sustaining developing varieties of its usage.This issue is not just about social justice but affects the linguistic capital and cultural capital of speakers of that language.

Methodology
This research is of a pragmatism philosophical orientation, as we endeavor to practically collect data by what works to address our realistic research questions (Creswell & Clark, 2018).We conducted a content analysis (Krippendorff, 2018) to code the cultural representations we extracted from textbooks as the textual and visual data selected from the textbooks are verifiable and replicable (Lee & Li, 2019).
The researched localized CFL/CSL textbooks were mainly collected from North America, southeastern Asia, and Europe.We strove to collect diverse localized textbooks from more countries, and to capture a representative sample of curriculums that are designed for a plurality of educational, social, and political contexts (Altbach, 1991).However, due to the limited amount of learners and local country's educational budget cuts, only a few countries (e.g., America, Singapore, Russia) could offer to produce localized Chinese textbooks, some other countries (e.g., Indonesia, Ukraine) produced the set with Chinese publishing house's assistance in some degree.Data sources see Table 1.
In this research, the three sociocultural groups of Chinese speakers other than Han people of the Chinese mainland are: the Chinese ethnic minority, non-mainland Han Chinese, and the Chinese diaspora overseas.We conducted this categorization according to Chinese government's routine categorization referred to the broad Chinese fellows in every Chinese New Year's Speech (Xi, J. 2021) and the taxonomy in the field of China Study done by international sinologists (Wu & Frazier, 2018).
Departing from Moran's (2001) conceptualization of culture as consisting of five dimensions: products, practices, perspectives, communities and persons, two foreign language major senior students and the researcher conducted the coding process.Because this is a national study, the three sociocultural groups are all in the pan-Chinese cultural circle and are of cultural similarity, thus, grounded in the reality of data we collected we categorized them into three themes: characters (persons), context of conversations (community), cultural products.
Inside of the Chinese-speaking world, it is applicable to distinguish a person's identity by its ethnicity, nationality, or birthplace.In addition, characters usually are the agents to have a conversation or a personal biography.Thus, we first analyzed the cultural representation through examining the characters appeared in textbook sets.Second, as the three groups per se are identified by the geography, it is by nature to categorized them by the geographic names.Third, cultural products are widely found in our data such as food, currency, and clothes, it is necessary to group the data by cultural products.Forth, some texts are not compiled by authors but cited from other publications.It is noticed that some of their sources cited are marked as from different sociocultural groups.Given the citing sources has been considered by authors and been perceived by textbook users, we think it is reasonable to explicate this point in discussion as it falls into the scope of this research.In the following sections, we are going to further discuss our findings.

The representation of fictional and real characters
Artificial and real characters in foreign language textbooks usually visualize imagined native language speakers' identities that students can map their own agency on.By and large, artificial characters play roles in exhibiting a fictional dialogue or conversation, in which appeared frequently than real characters in a textbook set, while real characters take the function to educate ideology-laden culture knowledge.
In our investigated localized CSL/CFL textbooks, fictional characters represented by local Chinese diaspora's images are found, but the other two groups, specifically the Chinese ethnic minorities, are almost absent.In Malaysia's CSL textbook sets, local speakers of Chinese in Malaysia could be Malaysian Muslims who wear veils or Malaysian man/boy who wear songkok as they in the real-life are (see Figure 1).Through pictures and illustrations, Malaysian CSL textbooks legitimized the local nations as Chinese native speakers who are different than the Han Chinese in China.This construction reverberates the call of breaking identity stereotypes in foreign language textbooks and raises the status of Chinese diaspora of diverse national, religion, and gender identities in the Chinese-speaking world.Likewise, in Indonesia's CSL textbook sets Qiandao Huayue and Ayo Belajar Bahasa Mandarin dengan Gembira, the main characters are cast as Indonesian Chinese.Octavia (2017) listed an example extracted from an Indonesia's CSL textbook that Huang Fucai is a 28 year old Indonesian Chinese, his father is a manager and his mother is a doctor.He is learning Chinese while working (p.62).The authors by no means create the character by random design, in fact, Huang's background represents a very common Indonesian Chinese lifestyle in local community.The artificially constructed character provides an artificial learning partner or an imagined identity (Norton, 2000) that many learners cold match their own agencies with the textbook characters, and also engage the Indonesian CFL learner's reality, that many of them communicate with local Indonesian Chinese more than mainland Chinese people.In the Philippines produced CSL textbook set Chinese for Filipinos, characters of a Hokkien identity are highlighted (Volume 7, p. 39; Volume 9, p.1).In the Singapore produced CSL textbook set Huan Le Huo Ban, characters of local Malay, Indian, Eurasian are all represented (e.g, 3B, p. 26), even the Chinesization names of different ethnicities such as Hashan ( 哈山 ), Kaya ( 卡雅 ), Alice ( 爱丽思 ) are juxtaposed with authentic Chinese names (3A, p. 23).The reality of multicultural and multiethnic CSL speakers in Singapore are reflected in the textbooks through such a strategic manner.
In the same vein, overseas Chinese characters are found in the Russia and some other East European countries that produced CFL textbooks.For instance, in Практический курс китайского языка 2 (Practical Chinese Volume 2)a character is an old overseas Chinese scholar who is working in Germany.In Учебник китайского языка：новый практический курс(New Edition Practical Chinese Volume 2) the old overseas Chinese scholar is working in America (see Figure 2).It is worthy nothing that in Italian produced CFL textbook set(Il cinese per gli italiani), the Chinese immigration in Italy is mentioned, specifically the group of people from Wenzhou and Qingtian (a county in Lishui), as in the real-world the majority of local Italian Chinese are from Zhejiang province (Li, Xiaochen Hua, Tao Xiong and Ruiyao Yu 2001).To be more specific, a vender-Wang Youming and a Chinese restaurant owner-Liu Gen's life in Italy are specifically described (see Figure 3).Both of them are from Zhejiang, they worked hard and tried their best to integrate into local Italian society and to have a better life.The story reflected the reality that most Chinese immigrations in Italy normally take these two occupations required less language skills and a diligent entrepreneurship.Similar examples are seen in an Italian Chinese learner's monologue: "I have three Chinese friends, a boy and two girls.They all worked at restaurants nearby my house, they are all from Wenzhou." (Il cinese per gli italiani 2, p. 251).The specific cultural representations in Italian produced CFL textbook are not compiled out of pedagogic function, it reflects the reality of Zhejiang immigration's common memory and the rise of their political status in Italy, which requires the local Italian people to notice this specific group's social influence (Yan, et al. 2015, pp. 90-93).In selecting images and texts about celebrities with hybrid identities from Chinese diaspora community, the textbook authors and/or editors have made a strategic choice to forge the connection between China and the local country, and also introduce students to a global citizen under the echo of neo-liberalism, thereby emphasizing the common culture shared by all fellow Chinese globally, and weakens the politic divergence between them.Xiaochen Hua, Tao Xiong and Ruiyao Yu Characters of non-mainland Han Chinese are rarely seen in textbook sets investigated.The U.S. produced CFL textbook Integrated Chinese 2.1 introduced an artificial character Li Zhe's sister-inlaw who immigrated from Hong Kong to the U.S. 15 years ago and now settled in the U.S. (see Figure 5).This setting reflects the reality that in 1980s and 1990s, due to the economic booming, many Hong Kong people immigrated and integrated into the local U.S. community.This representation offered an opportunity for those 2nd generation Hong Kong immigration to learn Chinese within their family's immigration history.It absolutely will be helpful for these very learners to adapt their hybrid identity in the American CSL learning context.In Princeton Series, textbooks significantly referred to the group of Chinese from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and even Macau.For example, "Among the teachers, some are from Mainland China, and some are from Taiwan.Not only are their accents somewhat different, but their opinions on many topics are also different" (First Step, p.238)."We have seven Chinese teachers this semester...Some of them come from Beijing, some from Shanghai, and there is another one from Taiwan" (First Step, p.246).
It should be realized that localized CSL/CFL textbooks are not compulsory learning materials but commodity in the local educational market.Ignoring or dodging the images of Chinese speakers of nonmainland Han Chinese identities repels some immigrant families from our CSL/CFL enterprise and leaves room for some Taiwanese institutions to extend their influence laden with national separatism, which is not what most Chinese want to see.Thus, we need to adopt a progressive attitude and strategical approach to instill the message in localized CFL/CSL textbooks that Taiwanese and Hong Kong people are also ethnic Han Chinese and are native Chinese speakers.Given the potential political debates in local teaching contexts, it is necessary to place them into a pan-Chinese culture circle or a politic-free Chinese-speaking world.
In another dimension, the Chinese ethnic minority's characters are made some tactful references.Effendi, the wisdom Uigur (The figure Effendi is also noted as an/some wisdom imam(s) in West and Central Asia) is introduced in the Malaysian, Singaporean (Huan Le Huo Ban 4B, pp.66-71.)and Philippine CSL textbooks (Chinese for Filipinos Volume 11, p. 7) (see Figure 6).In the footnote, the author added that Effendi was a legendary character in the Xinjiang area.His presence echos Malaysia's Islamic culture and also marks that Xinjiang has long been a part of China.Along with the story, the Uigur's representation is implied as a subdomain of pan-Chinese culture and the story is disseminated through mandarin Chinese.
Figure 6 Effendi (Bahasa Cina 1, p. 138) (right Huan Le Huo Ban 4B, p. 66) By the same token, one of the 55 Chinese ethnic minorities-the Hui people (known as the local Chinese Mulisms) are specifically mentioned in Qiandao Huayu, an Indonesia produced CSL textbooks, and Singapore produced CSL textbook-Huan Le Huo Ban.Given the reality that in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, Muslims make a bulk of the national population, thus, it is reasonable to read that the Hui and Uigur are selected to covey the cultural and religious messages and shape learner's identity (Norton, 2000).
In Kazakhstan-an important B&R Initiative country-80% of CFL teachers are from Xinjiang and are of Chinese Kazakhstan ethnicity.Most of them are native Kazakhstan speakers but, to some extent, can speak Mandarin Chinese.(Ayina, 2017).In this case, the limited representation of Chinese ethnic minority characters in textbooks may discredit those CFL teachers as legitimate Chinese speakers and weaken their authority in the classroom.The Chinese Kazakhstan teachers may dispose their vocational identity in a disadvantaged context and adopt agentive strategies in teaching.Meanwhile, Kazakhstan students may lack models of Kazakhstan Chinese speakers in their learning materials.The issue is not solely existed in Kazakhstan but also need to be taken care for teachers and learners in Central and Southeastern Asian countries.The ignorance of Chinese ethnic minority makes a part of the Chinese second language speakers are overlooked, and weaken the dissemination of the widely usage of Chinese.Given the few and simplified appearance, we call for enough representation for Chinese ethnic minority's characters.
To conclude, characters of Chinese ethnic minorities (e.g., Tibetan, Mongolian, Thai, etc.), nonmainland Han Chinese (Hong Kong people, Macau people, Taiwanese), and Chinese diasporas (Malaysian, Singaporean, American Chinese, etc.) should be given more voice than it has now.Xiaochen Hua, Tao Xiong and Ruiyao Yu

Diverse conversation contexts in non-mainland areas
Conversation context is another important indicator for learners to realize where they can use Chinese language or where the Chinese speaking world is located.It is another strategic window to introduce diverse pan-Chinese cultures and further motivate student's learning interests.
Due to the boom in China's economy since the 21 th century, and the wave of Chinese immigration around the world, it is not uncommon to see Chinese used in a great deal of diaspora communities by multiple nations.For instance, Chinatowns or local Chinese communities in the U.S. are the most convenient and a direct place for American Chinese learners to access the language and culture.However, given the absence of the effects of the Cultural Revolution, and the remarkable contribution by Hakka, Teochew, and Cantonese, the representation of American Chinese culture is different from the mainstream Chinese culture regarded in mainland China.In this respect, the lack of China town's representation may lead to confusion for the American local Chinese learner's realization of their surrounding Chinese speaking contexts.
Integrated Chinese-a U.S. produced CFL textbook-constructed contexts by using Mandarin Chinese in Chinatowns in the U.S. For example, an illustration shows a blond waitress dressed in a traditional Chinese qipao welcoming guests into a Chinese restaurant in the U.S. (Integrated Chinese 2.1 p. 3).Another dialogue takes place on the way to Chinatown (see Figure 7).Princeton Series widely mentioned the China towns in the U.S. and underlined the specific dialect used in American China towns.For example, in the lesson Chinatown: "the most common language is neither English nor Mandarin, but Cantonese.A person who cannot speak Cantonese, even if he is Chinese, is often seen as an outsider" (Oh China, p. 202).In another lesson China Town in New York, author made it further clear: We went to a Chinese restaurant.I spoke Mandarin with the waitress, but the waitress spoke English with me.In the beginning, I thought she didn't understand my Chinese, which made me quite disappointed.Only later did I find out that many waiters in the restaurants only speak Cantonese and cannot speak Mandarin.Only after I got to New York's Chinatown did I know that the "Common Language" is actually not "common".(First Step,p. 220) In other Asian, European, and American produced CFL textbooks we investigated, conversations are also widely placed in Chinese supermarkets, Chinese restaurants, and local Chinese communities.Though, the representation of China towns globally, which may seem inappropriate at face value, not only facilitate profound understanding of present-day Chinese-speaking world but can lead to critical thinking of learner's self-identity in the globalization era.
Except the references to Chinese diaspora communities, Princeton Series mentioned the city of Taipei Hong Kong, and Singapore in a parallel form (Oh, China!p.24).Chinese for Filipinos introduced that many Taiwanese people speak Hokkien which is hard to be understood by Mandarin speakers (Volume 5, p. 3).Bahasa Cina compared the Taipei 101 Tower and the The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur to reminder students that the city Taipei is also in the realm of Chinese-speaking areas (see Figure 8).The findings echo with the hidden rule of cultural representation in CFL textbooks that conversation contexts such as Hong Kong and Taipei mostly are juxtaposed with representations of mainland China cities such as Shanghai and Beijing instead of juxtaposing Taiwan and mainland China (Hua. et al. 2021).The portraying confirms Gray's (2010b) report that commercial textbooks tend to avoid some sensitive issues such as politics, religion, and LGBTIQ issues.By strategically representing the cultures of Hong Kong and Taiwan, the textbook producers provide a sense of Chinese cultural variety to draw the attention of more students to study Chinese.
It is very worthy to note that in our researched CFL/CSL textbooks, given Taiwan and Hongkong are represented, however, Macau is almost absent.In the colonial era, Hong Kong was colonized by Britain; Taiwan by Japan; and Macau by Portugal, long-term interactions with different colonists and colonial culture resulted in a formation of diverse local Han Chinese cultures in these areas.With the Chinese culture renaissance movement and the De-Sinicization movement, Taiwan maintains a more traditional form of Chinese culture, but the new generation claims a strong local Taiwanese identity.Taking the advantage of economic development and westernization during the British realm, the HK people has a more British and international perspective.In terms of the language dialect, political system, identity and culture, Taiwan and HK are distinct.However, another Cantonese speaking area Macau-a special administrative region of China-is completely absent in both textbooks.In regard to the size, population, and international influence, Macau has less weight than Taiwan and Hong Kong, but it has the longest colonial history in China, the native Portuguese population, and integrates well with the mainland China in the "one country, two Systems" policy.
In the investigated textbooks, the only significantly referred to city Macau is in the lesson of Rong Hong-the first Chinese student who study in the U.S.: "In 1828, Rong was born in Macau, when he was 7-year-old, he studied in a Christian elementary school where accepted western education."(Oh, China!p.330).
In a critical perspective, a powerless group should not be marginalized to reinforce the factual asymmetry and inequality.Thus, in the researched textbooks, an uncompleted representation of nonmainland Han Chinese groups minimized their culture and identity differences is really insufficient to transmit the object and comprehensive China to students.Furthermore, as the cultural representation of Macau is not a political taboo to almost every country, its absence in CFL/CSL textbooks undermined the goal for multicultural education in the age of modernization.
In line with the previous studies (Hua, et al. 2021;White, 2008), we also found in this research that Chinese ethnic minority residential areas are frequently placed in Yunnan or Sichuan Province where it is easy to teach vocabulary about ethnic minority, traveling or climate.With the development of B&R Initiatives, Yunnan is considered as the "bridgehead" connecting China with border countries.Alone with a high percentage of South Asian and Southeast Asian students who study in China are placed to study in Yunnan province (Ling, 2019).The reality render that Yunnan is frequently associated with the Chinese ethnic minority, but the other five ethnic minority autonomous regions in China are underrepresented in the textbooks researched.

Cultural product of chinese-speaking others
Informed by the transnational paradigm that non-mainland Han Chinese group should be given equal attention, we found that the local cultural products in Chinese are taught in CSL textbooks.For instance, the Chinese name for Malaysian currency "lingji ( 令吉 )" and many southeastern Asian local foods such as Curry Puff ( 咖 喱 角 ), Nasi Lemak ( 椰 浆 饭 , coconut rice)，roti prata ( 印 度 飞 饼 , naan bread), teh Tarik ( 拉 茶 , Masala Tea)，Kaya ( 咖 椰 , curry coconut toast), Bak-Kut-The ( 肉 骨 茶 , meat-and-bone soup, Huan Le Huo Ban 6A, p. 40) are found in Malaysia and Singapore produced CSL textbooks (see Figure 9).As a whole, they discursively imply that Chinese language can absolutely be localized as a communicative tool to carry the local cultural products.Mandarin Chinese are by no means a language loaded with cultural elements of mainland China, but a kind of transnational or international language integrated into local communities.

Figure 9
Local Food (left Bahasa Cina Sekolah Kebangsaan Tahun 1, p. 68) Except the simple appearance of names of food, some local Chinese diaspora's cultural products are introduced.For instance, the 24 Solar Term Drum Performance (Gendang Dua Puluh Empat Perayaan/ Gendang Cina) as an intangible cultural heritage recognized by UNESCO is described in detail (Bahasa Cina 4,.This very lesson claimed that localized Chinese diaspora's culture is also a part of Chinese culture, it could be a pride for all fellow Chinese worldwide and regurgitate to influence the mainland China's culture.In some other lessons, this perspective has been emphasized that the Chinese diaspora played a role in saving the traditional Chinese culture and/or keep it alive in overseas.For instance, Bahasa Cina Sekolah Kebangsaan 2 mentioned the Eng-Choon Guild Hall ( 永 春 会 馆 )，Hainan Guild Hall ( 海 南 会 馆 ) ( Bahasa Cina Sekolah Kebangsaan 2 p.131) in a text.In the contemporary China, the hometown association or guild/clan hall as a functional organization has almost disappeared or been remained as a kind of museum, but in the Chinese diaspora community, it is still playing robust roles as it had in the ancient China.
In the U.S., meanwhile, Princeton Series pointed the American culture-California beef noodles ( 加 州牛肉面 , A Trip to China p.44), as it is one of the well-known American Chinese foods not only in the U.S. but in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
"Realizing that CSL students of today are tomorrow's business partners, diplomats or academicians" (White, 2008, p. 79), representing Taiwan and Hong Kong cultural products could endow textbooks with a confident status that expressing the non-mainland Han Chinese's cultural similarity within a pan-Chinese culture circle, thereby promoting the one-China policy.Broadening the scope of Chinese culture can also provide more interesting cultural knowledge for students who got tired of the stereotypical monolithic Chinese culture and motivate them to continuously invest in acquiring mandarin Chinese.For local heritage learners, the cultural products can meet their family's needs and engage the local government's goal of advocating multiculturalism and freedom of speech.Ultimately, it is expected that local governments will accept the spread of China produced CSL/CFL textbooks in local communities.
Princeton Series is the one that do not dodge some seemingly sensitive and awkward subjects of China politics.The chief editor Chou (2011) believes that controversy is essential to sparking engagement and meaningful discussion.By considering the politically correct in both China and the local states and using strategic selections and composition to teach the intractable topics of culture, the intersections or overlaps between mainland Han Chinese, non-mainland Han Chinese, Chinese diaspora, and Chinese ethnic minority cultures are placed within a postmodern pan-Chinese culture framework in the textbook sets.To implement this idea, the Princeton Series teased apart the history, language, and culture of Taiwan in a neutral and objective perspective (Oh China,p.17,A Trip to China,p.258).The same narrative is also found in Italy produced textbooks, in that Taiwan's geography and demography are introduced (Il cinese per gli italiani 3, p.174).
In addition, the cultural products of Chinese ethnicity minority are mentioned occasionally (Oh China, p. 294; A New China, p. 427; Il cinese per gli italiani 3, p. 168).

Conclusion
In reviewing the cultural representation of Chinese-speaking Others in localized CFL/CSL textbooks, we reached the area that remains unknown for a longtime.To sum up, in terms of person/characters, artificial and real characters of Chinese diasporas are widely represented in southeastern Asian countries produced CSL textbooks.Characters of the local immigrant Chinese are also found in America, Italy and Russia produced CFL/CSL textbooks.The representation reminds CSL/CFL educators that those overseas Chinese celebrities and specific vocational groups (e.g., cooks, coolies, vendors, farmers) who made huge contribution to the global fellow Chinese as well as the world need to be memorized and honored in the textbooks.However, characters of non-mainland Han Chinese and Chinese ethnic minorities are rarely seen in textbook sets investigated.It is recommended that the representation of Chinese ethnic minorities could be accompanied by the representation of their religious identities according to the local country's popular religion(s).For example, the introduction of Hui, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyz could refer to their Islamic belief to accommodate the Islamic countries CFL learner's identities.The introduction of Tibetan, Mongolian and Dai could refer to their Buddhist belief to echo some southeastern countries CFL learner's mindsets.The introduction of Russian and native Portuguese could refer to their Christian belief to engage some western countries CFL learner's interests.
In terms of context/communities, China towns are almost mentioned in all investigated CFL/CSL textbooks.While it is hoped that conversation contexts such as Macau, Hong Kong, Taipei, and even Hohhot, Lhasa could be more mentioned and juxtaposed with representations of Shanghai, Guangzhou, etc.
In terms of cultural products, the local Chinese diaspora's cultural products such as 24 Solar Term Drum Performance, California beef noodles, Guild Hall are represented in textbooks, which remind international CFL/CSL educators that all fellow Chinese have the ability and power to inherit traditional Chinese culture and create new Chinese culture.The mainland Chinese applaud for their achievements and, meanwhile, the global Chinese speakers will thank their contribution for increasing the net benefits for all Chinese speakers.
As learning Chinese language has been a sought-after commodity (White, 2008), a bulk of stakeholders of Chinese-speaking Others are joining into this market (Hua, at el. 2021).In politic and economic perspective, legitimately represent the Chinese-speaking Others could not only exhibit the increasing number of the Chinese speakers globally but significantly underline the broadening sphere of the usage of Chinese language, thereby facilitating the accumulation of net benefits or linguistic capital for Chinese speakers and motivating the CSL/CFL learners.
This study is not aiming to please some interests on the so-called "marginalized group" issues in China through exaggerating the effect of asymmetric power.Given the pedagogic and politic issues, we understand that "no textbook can fully convey the richness and diversity of those groups" (Canale, 2016, p.240).Instead of calling for excessive representation for the minority groups, we suggest the CFL and CSL textbook producing stakeholders give a reasonable representation on the three sociocultural groups in the Chinese-speaking world.Therefore, this study offers an empirically driven resource from multiple textbook sets for authors, curriculum designers, and publishers to use a compass as they reimagine curriculum that allows for local student worldwide to study the multiple Chinese culture and shaped their own hybrid identity.By encouraging foreign students to be informed, think critically, and guide their hybrid identity construction, textbook developers could do more in uniting the Chinese ethnic minorities, Chinese diaspora, non-mainland Han Chinese groups and challenging the mono-ethnic Han Chinese stereotype, which are less compatible in the age of globalization.It is hoped that by adopting the proposed editorial implications for representing the diverse cultural groups in future CFL/CSL textbooks, the pan-Chinese culture and Chinese language could export to various foreign countries.