Code Switching and Code Mixing as Styles in Hausa Gospel Songs and Sociolinguistics and Economic Development

Abstract

This research attempted to expose the styles of language behaviour of Hausa- based gospel singers in the Northern Nigeria. Specifically, the goal of the study was to analyze the code choices and the motivation behind such style. Stylistics is a branch of applied linguistics that deals with the study and interpretation of text- spoken or written. The idea of using music as a genre of passing information, entertainment and instruction is necessary and valuable and gospel music or sounds in particular are inevitable aspect of Christian worship as it is used to edify, to praise, to worship. A total of 50 musical artistes made up the population. The results indicated that code – switching and code – mixing among the musical artistes were sociolinguistic, economic and artistic. The trend of language choice could be used to foster unity, preserve languages from going into extinction and attract a wider audience.