LOOKING AHEAD: THE DIFFERENT ROLES OF FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS WITH WILL IN TRANSPORT INDUSTRY REPORTING GENRES

We look at organizational transparency as giving access to more and better information, in the
awareness that providing information is always selecting it and that clarity varies according to
the different audiences (and their different interests). On this basis, we aim to investigate the
role of expressions of futurity in reporting genres, focusing on the modal will. The transport
sector and railways are used as a case study. What kind of transparency do forward-looking
statements represent? How far can forward-looking statements be regarded as forms of strategic
vagueness, used to divert attention from the most questionable or unpleasant parts of a
message or to protect some contents from critical challenging?
Using a corpus of annual and CSR reports in English from British and Italian cultural backgrounds
(thus including different English varieties, from native forms to ELF/translated texts),
we look at how the notion of futurity is expressed. The analysis looks at references to future
time and studies their rhetorical function first: e.g. whether they are involved in predictions of
future results or commitments to future action. We then study their relationship with vague
language in terms of elements of semantic underdetermination.
A comparative analysis of the lingua-cultural data allows for further exploration of the nature
of forward-looking statements in reporting genres in relation to their organizational transparency
and to the different backgrounds involved. The unfolding of the text around the single
statements is mostly characterized by dynamic patterns of vagueness and precision. Strategic
vagueness can be identified with careful choice of lack of specification rather than with the
frequency of vague terms.