This study investigates linguistic variations in Pakistani and British newspaper editorials, focusing on their comparative analysis to understand the distinct features of Pakistani English (PE) as a non-native variety. Media, particularly newspapers, play a pivotal role in shaping public opinion through editorials that propagate political and cultural ideologies. By employing the Multidimensional Analysis Tagger (MAT) on a corpus of 100 editorials (50 from each country), this research identifies and analyzes various linguistic dimensions such as lexical, syntactic, and argumentative patterns. The findings highlight significant differences in linguistic features, reflecting the cultural, social, and regional influences on language use in Pakistani English newspaper editorials. Pakistani editorials tend to exhibit a formal yet accessible tone. They also reflect the socio-political landscape of Pakistan, using persuasive techniques and argumentation patterns distinct from their British counterparts. The study reveals that Pakistani editorials have higher scores in dimensions related to explicit expression, abstract information, and online informational elaboration compared to British editorials. These insights contribute to the understanding of PE as a distinct register influenced by local norms and global linguistic trends. The research has implications for media professionals, educators, and language learners, emphasizing the importance of linguistic awareness in journalistic and editorial writing. The limitations of the study are acknowledged, and future research directions are suggested to further explore the nuances of linguistic variation in World Englishes.

Keywords: Linguistic variation, English newspaper editorials, Pakistani English, British English, Language use, Multidimensional Analysis Tagger (MAT)