Identity refers to the distinctive character belonging to any given individual,or shared by all members of a particular social category or group.In academic writing,authorial identity is not a fixed but multi-faceted,adapting to and being shaped by particular contexts and types of interaction.As a means of social practice,the construction of authorial identity is based on the interaction between the writer and the reader.The production of writing is a manifestation of writers identity.The present study is focused on the discursive construction of authorial identity in English and Chinese doctoral theses in the discipline of linguistics and applied linguistics.It aims to explore how native speakers of Chinese(NSC),native speakers of English(NSE)and Chinese non-native speakers of English(CNSE)students establish their authorial identity and interact with their readers through the manipulation of rhetorical structures and various linguistic resources.Excerpts of Introduction and Conclusion are collected as the data for analysis.By analyzing the generic structure,the study intends to reveal how writers adopt various linguistic resources and rhetorical structures to construct their authorial identity.The investigation shows that these linguistic resources are various,from explicit “self mentioning” to implicit “stance markers”.The comparative results may raise writers awareness of linguistic resources available for the projection of identity and provide implication for academic writing and communication in intercultural context.