Abstract

This study investigated the linguistic repertoire of undergraduates in Ekiti State tertiary institutions. This study also takes a specific interest in examining the linguistic status of the undergraduates in terms of monolingualism, bilingualism and multilingualism.The descriptive design was used for the study. The participants were undergraduates students from three tertiary institutions in Ekiti State namely College of Education, Ikere Ekiti, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Ikere campus and Crown Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti. Instrument used was a structured questionnaire on the selected sample. A total of 180 questionnaires were administered, while 153 questionnaires were returned by the respondent. Five research questions were answered at 0.05 level of significance. Data were analysed using ANOVA, and the results revealed that the extent of undergraduates being multilingual was insignificant; about 98% undergraduates were bilingual. Hence, about 1% speak more than two languages, including English as a second language. Furthermore, the extent of code switching and code mixing among the bilingual undergraduates was significant at .038 level of significance. Also, undergraduates tend to code switch from the L1 to the L2 during communication at home. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations were made that proper implementation of the Language Policy on Education at all levels of education, the administrative resurrection of acculturation programmes in tertiary institutions with emphasis on undergraduates studying Language Education and governments' intervention in the increase of admission quota of applicants intending studying Nigerian Languages in Nigerian Universities and Colleges of Education.