This volume is the first of its kind to deal with a variety of topics by leading scholars related to the use of Arabic in the media. The contributors examine patterns of language use in traditional as well as 'new' media types, in order to further our understanding of the mechanism at work in the development of modern Arabic, both in its standard and colloquial varieties.

The first part of this volume is devoted to a close analysis of various aspects of media Arabic (code-switching, language variation, orthography and constructions of identity); the second part builds on the first, as it asks, to what extent does the Arabic used in the media reflect social and linguistic realities of Arabic speaking audiences ('clichéd' dialects, code-switching and socialects)? How can our knowledge of the linguistic reality of the media in the Arab world contribute to teaching the media to foreign students learning Arabic?