diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/context_processor.py b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/context_processor.py
index c6afdad46bee..bc40b166a50f 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/context_processor.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/context_processor.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 from edx_django_utils.cache import TieredCache
 from lms.djangoapps.courseware.models import LastSeenCoursewareTimezone
+from openedx.core.djangoapps.site_configuration.helpers import get_value
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.user_api.errors import UserAPIInternalError, UserNotFound
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.user_api.preferences.api import get_user_preference, get_user_preferences
 from openedx.core.lib.cache_utils import get_cache
@@ -26,6 +27,8 @@ def user_timezone_locale_prefs(request):
     """
     Checks if request has an authenticated user.
     If so, sends set (or none if unset) time_zone and language prefs.
+    If site-wide language is set, that language is used over the language set
+    in user preferences.
 
     This interacts with the DateUtils to either display preferred or attempt to determine
     system/browser set time_zones and languages
@@ -47,6 +50,9 @@ def user_timezone_locale_prefs(request):
                     key: user_preferences.get(pref_name, None)
                     for key, pref_name in RETRIEVABLE_PREFERENCES.items()
                 }
+        site_wide_language = get_value('LANGUAGE_CODE', None)
+        if site_wide_language:
+            user_prefs['user_language'] = site_wide_language
 
         cached_value.update(user_prefs)
     return cached_value
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_context_processor.py b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_context_processor.py
index 3eb873765bc1..df4c6543db33 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_context_processor.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_context_processor.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 """
 
 from pytz import timezone
-from unittest.mock import Mock
+from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
 from django.contrib.auth.models import AnonymousUser
 
 from lms.djangoapps.courseware.context_processor import (
@@ -48,6 +48,13 @@ def test_no_language_preference(self):
         assert context['user_timezone'] is not None
         assert context['user_timezone'] == 'Asia/Tokyo'
 
+    @patch("lms.djangoapps.courseware.context_processor.get_value")
+    def test_site_wide_language_set(self, mock_get_value):
+        mock_get_value.return_value = 'ar'
+        set_user_preference(self.user, 'pref-lang', 'en')
+        context = user_timezone_locale_prefs(self.request)
+        assert context['user_language'] == 'ar'
+
     def test_get_user_timezone_or_last_seen_timezone_or_utc(self):
         # We default to UTC
         course = CourseFactory()