Retention Impacts of Redundancy, Ellipsis and Figures of Speech in Campus Radio Broadcasting of Nigeria's North Central Conventional Universities

Abstract

This study examined the retention impacts of redundancy, ellipsis and figures of speech in campus radio broadcasting. The research was motivated by the observation that campus radio broadcasts often fall short of the professional standards required to enhance the retention of their messages. Using Cultivation, Information, Participatory and Grammatical Cohesion theories as its theoretical framework, the study adopted a mixed-method design combining a quantitative survey and participant observation of 400 members of the campus audience of Excellent FM 89.9 (University of Abuja), BSU FM 89.9 (Benue State University), Uni-Ilorin FM 89.3 (University of Ilorin) and PLASU FM 103.3 (Plateau State University, Bokkos). Findings revealed that redundancy was the most pervasive linguistic feature, manifesting mainly as lexicosemantic duplication; although it clutters broadcast language, it nonetheless aids the retention of broadcast messages. Ellipsis was frequently misapplied, with broadcasters routinely omitting information that ought to have been contextually recoverable. Complex figures of speech were rarely deployed correctly. The study concluded that student broadcasters inadvertently entrench inappropriate broadcast-language habits that ultimately reduce message retention among their audiences. It recommended structured broadcast training, mentorship, adoption of a house style guide and curriculum reform to integrate appropriate medialanguage instruction that can strengthen the retention of and feedback to, campus radio broadcast messages.