Identity construction in corporate leaders’ messages: A corpus-based cross-linguacultural study of self-mention

While self-mention has been widely researched in academic genres, its role in corporate communication across linguacultures remains relatively underexplored. My corpus-based cross-linguacultural study addresses this gap by examining how U.S. and Vietnamese corporate leaders employ self-mentions to construct their identities in their statements in annual reports. Drawing on Lee's (2024) three-dimensional framework of business-self identities, I used Sketch Engine to analyze the frequencies and collocational patterns of self-mentions in CEO statements from the 2023 annual reports of 70 U.S. and 70 Vietnamese companies across various sectors. The results showed that U.S. CEOs favored “our” over “we” to construct their collective identity. In contrast, Vietnamese CEOs mainly adopted depersonalized company references to obscure their individual identity. Both groups used self-mention devices to emphasize gratitude, achievements, and conviction; however, U.S. CEOs made greater rhetorical efforts to interact with multiple stakeholders. These variations arise from a complex interplay of linguistic systems, socio-cultural norms, corporate reporting traditions, and business environments. The findings enrich the literature on cross-linguacultural communication and offer valuable insights for developing ESP materials and genre-based pedagogy. • U.S. CEOs favored “our” over “we” to build a preferred collective identity. • Vietnamese CEOs preferred company references to downplay individuality. • U.S. CEOs projected identities more explicitly with greater rhetorical efforts. • Both used self-mentions to express achievements, conviction, and gratitude.