Scientific Development Research

The growing disconnect between globally oriented Chinese language textbooks and the actual conditions of Sri Lanka’s local educational setting has become too stark to ignore. Creating localized resources, once treated as a secondary concern, now stands as a pragmatic imperative—a decisive mechanism for improving teaching quality and strengthening cross-cultural communication. This study focuses on the Composition, Culture and Literature for G. C. E. Advanced Level New Syllabus, the predominant Chinese textbook used at Sri Lanka’s senior secondary level. Through systematic textual analysis, it examines the organizing logic of the textbook’s localization. What emerges is not a loose collection of ad hoc adjustments. A coherent order runs through three linked strategic moves: recalibrating content to the local cultural and pedagogical context, building a scaffolded learning framework for students, and deliberately aligning with national assessment standards. Together, these efforts construct a structured basis for developing learners’ intercultural competence. The textbook’s limitations are no less evident, however: it lacks analytical depth in probing deeper spiritual and cultural layers, and the absence of strong digital support materials is a concrete shortcoming. These findings offer both an empirical anchor for improving Sri Lanka’s localized Chinese curriculum and an analytical framework and operational model transferable to textbook localization in non-Sinosphere countries along the Belt and Road.

Sri Lanka; Senior high school Chinese textbooks; Localization of Chinese textbooks; Intercultural competence; Chinese Writing, Culture and Literature Guide for High Schools