Different Approaches Employed by American and Korean Companies to Promote Transparency in Investor Interactions through the Use of English

Companies intend to enhance transparency of financial information or policy when communicating with investors in English for the worldwide investment community. This present study examines how companies try to improve an image of transparency in their investor relations (IR) communication policy texts. For this study, two corpora are complied from texts in English describing the IR communication policies of 40 companies each listed on the American NYSE composite and Korean KOSPI 200, representing two different cultures. Corpus-driven micro-linguistic analysis is used to identify the linguistic expression of the concept of transparency. Results suggest that the keywords indicated in the two corpora reveal different usages in context on a discursive level. In order to maintain transparency, American companies prioritize efficiency, focus on enhancing their image through objective documents, and involve executives in major decisions while Korean companies emphasize both publicity and fairness, elaborate in their initiatives to safeguard information, and value interaction between employees and shareholders. The findings can serve as valuable insights for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses focused on financial communication, helping to enhance the awareness of L2 students regarding the differences in IR communication practices.