Recent literature on textbooks has begun to examine textbooks’ ideological intentions and outcomes. However, “the examinations of textbooks from critical perspectives and sociocultural approaches are still relatively scant” (Curdt-Christiansen & Weninger, 2015, p. 5). Additionally, “foreign language textbook research has given little attention to the cultural politics of textbook writing and publishing, and to the challenges posed by globalization” (Kramsch & Vinall, 2015, p. 12-13). Drawing on a sociocultural framework grounded in a critical social semiotic theory of language, development, and social change (e.g., Byram, 2012; Duff, 2019; Douglas Fir Group, 2016; New London Group, 1996), this dissertation investigates the ideological and pedagogical dimensions of language and cultural representations in two leading Chinese language textbook series produced in the United States and China respectively: Integrated Chinese (IC) 4^th Edition and New Practical Chinese Reader (NPCR) 2^nd Edition. Specifically, employing content analysis, critical discourse analysis, and multimodal social semiotic analysis, this study examines how IC and NPCR promote L2 learners’ understanding of Chinese culture, critical cultural awareness, and critical language awareness through their multimodal language and cultural representations. The analyses revealed that both IC and NPCR represent rich cultural information that reflects the rapid development of China although they have different focuses and employ different multimodal social semiotic resources. Nevertheless, IC’s and NPCR’s cultural representations may not be adequate to help learners develop critical cultural awareness and global cultural consciousness. Furthermore, IC and NPCR focus on fostering L2 learners’ communication competence instead of cultivating their critical language awareness. IC’s and NPCR’s language and cultural representations inadequately support learners in developing intercultural competence to deal with the complexity and challenges of interpreting and constructing meaning in cross-cultural encounters in the context of globalization. The implications of this dissertation center on raising awareness of the value of sociocultural and critical perspectives of language teaching and learning, suggesting more critical, sociocultural-oriented language and cultural representations in world language textbooks to promote intercultural competence and global citizenship. Additionally, this study raises the importance of employing various multimodal social semiotic resources in world language textbooks to effectively engage L2 learners to promote their critical capacity and multiliteracies.