‘If you use the right Arabic…’: Responses to special language standardization within the BBC Arabic Service’s linguascape

Within language-sensitive IB literature, a range of studies examine responses to corporate language policies, especially in relation to English. However, research addressing other languages, and profession-specific influences on responses to language standardization remains scarce. This qualitative paper discusses journalists’ responses to corporate language standardization within the linguascape of the BBC Arabic Service. The findings demonstrate the impact of various interlinked influences on these responses: from external ones associated with the macro-level of the arabophone context and the journalistic profession, to internal organizational ones, occurring at the meso-level of the BBC, and the micro-level considerations linked with individual journalists’ career-related intentions.