Introduction

This introductory chapter lays a foundation for the development of a new methodological approach to identity constructions in bilingual advertising by offering a brief, critical account of research traditions, which are a trait of the existing identity studies in the literature of research into bilingual advertising. The research traditions mainly include the perception of English as a globally shared language without paying considerable attention to the local politics of English and its connection with variations and differences in practice; the adoption of a static social-indexical perspective for analysis that is usually criticized for its presumption of symbolic values of English as universally shared; and the notion of identity that needs to be seen as forms of semiotic potential, culturally defined and characterized.