Education or Educaci?n? A Comparative Analysis of the Discourses of Latino/A Students and Three Community Colleges

The main question addressed in this dissertation relates to the discourses that Latino/a students and community colleges bring to the educational table. From this question come corollary questions concerning the concept of education and the linguistic and cultural realities that inform the conception of educaci?n. Using theories of cognition, metaphor, and sociocultural linguistics, this dissertation illustrates that overlaps and divergences in the semantic conceptualization of the constructs of education and educaci?n, as well as their actualizations in practice, are informed by the habits of categorization that are held by persons involved in the American educational system and by students who come from the various Latino/a communities in the United States. In what might be termed the contact zone of education and educaci?n this dissertation addresses the questions of discursive stasis, resistance, transcultural negotiation, values hierarchies, and positive discourses that contribute to individuals? success?defined as achievement of the goals of the individual within the educational milieu.

Examination of the rhetorical and discourse literacies that underlie the communicative habits and expectations of Latino/a students and the instructors, administrators, and the community colleges involved in this study shows that educaci?n socializes individuals to value familismo, personalismo, simpat?a, respeto, confianza, cortes?a, humilidad, and empat?a. Community colleges that address these values supportively do so by engaging in positive discourses not only in their written forms, but in terms of institutional and classroom level actions.