ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 gives a short overview of studies on bilingual teachers of English to situate the perceived gaps for this study. From these perceived gaps, it draws attention to language identities, including the identity construction of language teachers and language learners because bilingual teachers of English continue to learn the language their entire lifetime (Kong, 2014; Medgyes, 1994). The chapter also looks at how international students construct and negotiate their identities because the participants were international students when they were pursuing their further studies in an English-speaking country. In particular, the chapter explores how identity is multifaceted and subject to change and conflict, with change being supplemented with concepts of agency and continuity amidst change. It also examines how identity is connected with contexts, discourse and power relations, besides considering how the notion is related to difference and how it is relational in nature. The chapter ends with an exploration of factors that affect the negotiation of identities, by investigating bilingual teachers’ investment, a notion proposed by Peirce (1995) to indicate the ways in which persons are connected historically and socially to a language, and by considering their expectations.
