Comparative study of the national identity education in senior high school English textbooks from Kyrgyzstan and China

Abstract

Relevance\Purpose. This paper conducts a comparative quantitative analysis of senior high school English books in Kyrgyzstan and China from the perspective of national identity education. It analyses the information, design, symbolic characteristics, and proportion of national identity education in two versions of English textbooks.Methodology. The study used the textual analysis method and the comparative method.Results. The findings are as follows: English textbooks in Kyrgyzstan pay more attention to national identity and national knowledge system construction, relying on many country-specific themes. Meanwhile, English textbooks for Chinese senior high school focus more on the presentation of an authentic English language context in which the foreign culture proportion is greater than that of the Chinese culture. English textbooks in Kyrgyzstan tend to present Kyrgyzstan identity based on Russian and English languages. The textbooks include three language types to strengthen the consciousness of the Kyrgyzstan national knowledge system. English textbooks in China tend to present English language�speaking countries. The textbooks contain one language�English�and the Chinese language rarely appears on the cover pages.Conclusions. English textbooks in Kyrgyzstan tend to present Kyrgyzstan culture as part of the national identity construction. These textbooks pay more attention to translating local Kyrgyzstan culture and provide more vivid themes to stimulate comparisons between the Kyrgyz Republic and other countries. English textbooks in China tend to construct a multicultural knowledge system by presenting many common, daily topics of world culture and diversity.