The Communicative Functions and Social Significance of Code-Switching and Code-Mixing Among Multilingual Undergraduate Students of Kaduna State University

Abstract

This paper investigates the communicative functions and social significance of code-switching and code-mixing among multilingual undergraduate students at Kaduna State University (KASU) within Nigeria’s complex linguistic landscape. The study employs a mixed-methods research design underpinned by Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT). Quantitative data were gathered from 400 structured questionnaires distributed via stratified random sampling across the faculties of Arts, Science, and Social Sciences. This is integrated with qualitative data from semi-structured interviews featuring 12 participants tracked via alphanumeric identifiers to ensure anonymity. Cross-tabulation analysis demonstrates that the majority of students (over 80%) code-switch or code-mix to emphasise key points, ensure clarity, and handle identity management. The study shows that Faculty of Science students rely most heavily on local codes to bridge cognitive gaps when processing abstract concepts, lower-level undergraduates use language alternation as a persuasive tool, and older, upper-level students shift codes to convey respect and navigate institutional hierarchies. The qualitative analysis reveals five core themes driving student linguistic behaviour, including emotional expression and affective clarity, identity management and cultural assertion, instructional clarity and cognitive processing, peer influence and social belonging, and cultural belonging and group solidarity. The paper highlights that while these practices encourage relational convergence and democratise peer learning, they also bring negative implications, such as the accidental social exclusion of non-Hausa speakers, the masking of deficiencies in standard global English proficiency, the reinforcement of rigid linguistic hierarchies, and increased risks of campus ethnic clustering. The study concludes that code-switching and code-mixing are complex, rule-governed communicative resources rather than signs of linguistic deficiency.