LANGUAGE USED BY BUS DRIVERS: A CASE STUDY OF NEW BENIN PARK

ABSTRACT
This work is on language use by bus drivers using the New Benin Park in Benin City as a case study.. This study aims at examining the language use by bus drivers and how it varies from other language use in the ancient city of Benin as well as the uniqueness of their language use. This research therefore is focused on establishing the structure and use of language in relation to context of its use. The data collected for this research was collected using the direct observation method of data collection and recording of real conversation situation among bus drivers and their passengers. Using the direct observation method of data collection the researcher boarded buses going from New Benin Park to various parts in Benin City, it is while in such buses that the researcher collected his data for the study. This study is a sociolinguistic investigation of language use by bus drivers and in this study the researcher carries out a descriptive analysis of the data collected. The findings of this research reveal that language use vary among groups in the society, this variation is determined by factors which include the preoccupations, scope of communication and subject matters of the language users. Also discovered is that language use is an aspect of the nature of language which shows the communicative function of language.