| Through case studies supplemented with ethnographic explorations, this dissertation investigates the processes, motivations, and practices of Mexican biculturalists living and working along the El Paso-Juarez international border. Conceptualizations and diverse theories of intercultural rhetoric, bilingualism, and biculturalism, and its related concepts are presented.; In defining and describing the methodology used, the researcher's role is addressed and explained to show how such a role influences and impacts the qualitative study. In describing, analyzing, and providing findings from interviews and questionnaires from Mexican biculturalists residing on the El Paso-Juarez border, a portrait of the biculturalists, their U.S. clients, and the researcher are presented. Observations and fieldnotes contribute to this portrait as well.; This dissertation operationalized biculturalism in terms of cultural values, language patterns, communication practices, and identities. This dissertation also investigates how and if context influences biculturalists' communication exchanges with their U.S. clients. It investigates physical and metaphorical border perspectives as well.; In investigating bicultural communication practices among these participants, this dissertation focuses on the issue of insider/outsider, both in terms of marginality and in the researcher's methodology. An eclectic theoretical framework is provided to show how this study's methodology and findings may challenge traditional notions of border life, U.S.-Mexican asymmetrical relationship, marginality, and socioeconomic class. This dissertation concludes by offering suggestions on how and what direction, research on professional bicultural communication should follow. |
