Abstract

The present analysis focuses on a corpus of texts, retrieved from the online news archive of an internationally operating company which has chosen English as the lingua franca for corporate communication. This study will argue that, since language is not a neutral vehicle and has far reaching implications on human perceptions, the analysis of the corporate lingua franca can prove particularly meaningful for the purpose of investigating corporate identity and its impact on the intended stakeholders. In fact, the evidence provided shows how the vocabulary and structure of the language employed for conveying the company's 'projected identity' inevitably impact on the company's 'applied identity' (Van Riel 2008), as the language used does not limit itself to mirroring objective realities, but leads the stakeholders to discover the kind of identity the company wants them to perceive.