Ahmar Mahboob Identity management, language variation and English language textbooks: focus on Pakistan  Introduction Bucholtz and Hall (2005: 586) define identity as “social positioning of self and other” and see it as emergent: i.e., it is construed, realized and negotiated in and through discourse. More recently, Bucholtz (this volume) relates identity to elements of style, where “style” is defined as “a system of sociocultural positioning through modes of semiotic action”. One key aspect of this work is the focus on style as semiotic action – actions that construe and realize mean- ing. These actions can be both linguistic and non-linguistic and are therefore open to multimodal discourse analysis. In focussing on the semiotic dimension of style, Bucholtz’s work encourages linguists to look beyond the description or distribution of formal features of language and consider how language makes meaning in context. This chapter is one attempt to operationalize such an ap- proach. Drawing on Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), particularly genre theory, it examines how English language texts used in Pakistani schools are written to project, shape, and normalize particular sociocultural positioning of the students. In doing so, such texts in effect limit the students’ discursive ability to access cultural capital. I have adopted SFL as my conceptual orienta- tion because it is interested in how meanings are construed and represented. In this approach, language is considered to be a semogenic system; that is, as a meaning-making system. SFL also considers multimodality to be an important aspect of understanding meaning, hence it is particularly amenable to a study on identity. This chapter analyzes sections of English language textbooks written and used in a World Englishes context. World Englishes can broadly be defined as Englishes that have emerged and evolved in different parts of the world over time to suit local contexts, needs and purposes. For this reason, the chapter also includes a consideration of how language variation relates to educational practices and identity. In order to explore the relationship between language variation, education, and identity, this chapter introduces two frameworks to help develop a comprehensive understanding of relevant issues. These two frameworks are: 1) a framework for studying identity management, and 2) a