THE PHENOMENON OF LINGUISTIC DISCRIMINATION AT THE TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF CIUDAD JUAREZ WITHIN THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM

Social Sciences and Education Research Review, Volume 12, Issue 2 – 2025 70 2025, vol. 12, issue 2, 70-80 RESEARCH ARTICLE https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17870659 THE PHENOMENON OF LINGUISTIC DISCRIMINATION AT THE TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF CIUDAD JUAREZ WITHIN THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM TRASVIÑA MARTÍNEZ JORGE ALBERTO 1 RUIZESPARZA FLORES BETSABÉ2 1 Psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatrist University of Juarez Autonomous of Tabasco ORCID 0009-0006-3981-5575 2 Doctor in Education, Psychologist, University Regional of North ORCID 0000-0001-6389-9250 Abstract This study was developed based on an exploration of the phenomenon of linguistic discrimination among students at the Technological University of Ciudad Juárez, in the Information Technology program, both morning and evening classes. The importance of this study lies in its theoretical and methodological aspects, since, as an exploratory study, it reveals the existence of linguistic discrimination at the university. According to the bibliographic review, there is little research on the topic in the country, the most notable and supportive of this research being that conducted by Hernández-Roseta and Maya (2009). There is no research on the topic at the UTCJ. Given the expected results, they are positive regarding the existence of linguistic discrimination, opening an opportunity for improvement and working with students to achieve pluralistic and inclusive relationships with their peers based on language. Keywords: Linguistic, Discrimination, University, Classroom 1. Introduction The Technological Universities (UT) have been an exceptional case in the field of the country's educational policy. Unlike other programs and actions, support for this short-term, vocational higher education option has been maintained for more than 17 years, or even more illustratively, for almost four six-year terms. This permanence is partly explained by the constant political and economic backing. But this support, in a modern and democratic regime, should also have been accompanied by a thorough analysis of its progress, achievements, and limitations. Any policy considered state-sponsored is public to the extent that its continuity is based on findings derived from research, criticism, and public reasoning (UT, 2025) The Technological Universities (UT), launched in 1991 with the creation of the Aguascalientes, Nezahualcóyotl, and Tula-Tepeji units, and currently comprising 66 campuses nationwide, are emblematic of the diversification goals of Mexico's higher education technology sector, the provision of intermediate vocational training (the advanced university technical and associate professional degrees), as well as the intention to generate solutions to job demands for specialized technical training. The research was conducted in the Information Technology program, which currently has 700 students in both morning and evening classes. This program began with the opening of the UTCJ Southeast Campus in 1999, and has earned alumni with advanced technical and engineering degrees. It is currently among the most in-demand programs. Language discrimination in classrooms is a highly noticeable phenomenon, as it affects students whose native language is not Spanish, making it difficult for them to use the language commonly spoken in Mexico. How does this problem arise? It is very common for students to be mocked and even nicknamed for their classmates who even have an accent different from that of the city. Several cases of bullying have been reported to the UTCJ Psychopedagogical Support Unit at the university level, where students feel harassed by their peers for speaking "differently." This affects them to such an extent Social Sciences and Education Research Review, Volume 12, Issue 2 – 2025 71 that some choose to change classes, shifts, or, worse, drop out of school, in addition to increasing low self-esteem and a significant increase in anxiety. An interesting case is that at the UTs, English is taught regularly every semester. This is where this problem is most evident, as students from different areas of the country who study at the university find it so difficult that they tend to fail due to their inability to master the American language. There have also been cases of poor understanding and lack of empathy on the part of teachers. An exploratory study is necessary to develop appropriate strategies to reduce the problem. Therefore, this study aims to describe the situation to begin improving the educational process not only for students but also for teachers and administrators. The article that Fiala-Butora (2023) presents, argues that these examples represent three different models of linguistic equality: formal equality, equality of opportunities and substantive linguistic equality. It will analyse how these approaches empower or disadvantage speakers of minority languages, and what normative guide they provide for linguistic equality. The educational In Mexican society, there is a rich multiculturalism, which is evident in every city and state of the country. Even so, this multiculturalism can give rise to language discrimination, especially in contexts where different cultures coexist. At the Technological University of Ciudad Juárez, founded in 1999 in the southeast of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, students interact daily with classmates and teachers from other parts of the country, including some from the United States and Spain. Thus, this phenomenon of language discrimination, studied by sociolinguistics and ethnolinguistics, is prominent among university students. For Teillier, Llanquinao, and Salamanca (2016), the almost nonexistent problematization of the relationship between linguistics and social reality fails to mention that many linguistic studies that have not focused on this relationship have provided important insight into certain areas related to language studies. From a critical sociolinguistic perspective (inspired by advances in American linguistic anthropology), important work has been done in highlighting the importance of the representations, ideas, beliefs and attitudes – or linguistic ideologies – that individuals and communities have about different ways of speaking, incorporating them into their analyses in order to more fully understand linguistic change and the place that languages and linguistic practices occupy in social organization, especially (though not only) in the reproduction of inequalities. (Espinoza Alvarado, 2023). The phenomena of cultural and linguistic diversity have become the focus of current debates about the school and its undeniable role as the broadest space for the inclusion of diversity. Key elements of this inclusion process are the knowledge of reading and writing, the difficulties in which students acquire them as the most significant factors in school and social exclusion. Language, as a social practice, objectifies in dialects the different "places" that situate individuals in the space of social relations and objectifies in registers a repertoire of meanings linked to the actions individuals perform. (Herrera de Bett: 2005) Meanwhile, at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia (2009), a study was conducted on the sociolinguistics of students at the university; the results show that several phenomena emerge within the configuration of student slang, such as the creation of vocabulary based on the students' specific situations, the multiple evaluation of lexical expressions, the use of loanwords, and the influence of the English language in the structuring of slang, among others. In the time of the philosophers, Aristotle (384-322 BC) already spoke about the various "types of language" (logos semantikos). The philosopher proposed that language, as a meaningful content, presented three possible forms: apophantic (logos apophantikos), pragmatic (logos pragmatikos), and poetic (logos poetikos). (Blanco: 2005) The study of language, or sociolinguistics itself, has existed since human thought and language began to develop, from the physical, psychological, and social perspectives. It is of utmost importance to understand the resistance we have as human beings toward other languages and accents throughout the multicultural world in Ciudad Juarez and even in the Mexican Republic. For all the above reasons, a study describing the problem of language discrimination is being considered at the Technological University of Ciudad Juárez, Southeast Campus, in the Information Technology program, evening program, hoping to obtain desirable results to propose strategies in the near future. According to the theory proposed by Coseriu (1964), language is based on the arbitrary association of a meaning (semantic content) and a signifier (acoustic image). This implies that in order to establish communication, the speaker and the listener must accept the same symbols for the same objects and that their combination must be carried out according to a certain rule; that is, they must accept a pre-established norm. Eugene Coseriu is a linguist who dedicated his studies to language, its structure, and its functions. It is necessary to address his main concepts in this research to understand how language works. However, Crystal (1983) emphasizes that for communication to occur, the Social Sciences and Education Research Review, Volume 12, Issue 2 – 2025 72 existence of a sender, a receiver, a message, and an agreement between the interlocutors regarding the use of a code are necessary. According to this author, every communicative activity involves the following steps or phases: - Source of information: human being - Coding process: message development - Production: advertising the encoded signal - Transmission: sending the signal - Reception: the signal is received - Decoding: deciphering the message - Destination: once the message is decoded, its meaning is recorded. According to Hernández Rosete and Maya (2016), the school linguistic discrimination is a form of racism whose countercultural resistance is poorly documented. In this paper we analyze the beliefs that favor indigenous bilingual school discrimination migrants and describe some of the answers as there are also mechanisms of school counterculture. As an example, we have the article of Boulos (2022) “The article criticizes the dichotomy between toleranceoriented language rights and promotion-oriented language rights. Alternatively, the article suggests that a substantive approach to equality in the enjoyment of human rights could give rise to a duty to accommodate the language of immigrants when the lack of accommodation results in the denial of human rights.” The question here is whether we should go so far in terms of linguistic discrimination for the cases to reach human rights. Mendez Santos (2025) It's common to hear discriminatory statements like the following: people from the capital speak better; those from the coast speak with a very strange lilt; indigenous dialects are going to disappear; indigenous languages have no grammar; Spanish has recently become impoverished, etc. All of these expressions are examples of a phenomenon that has been called linguistic discrimination. 2. Method Exploratory research is conducted since, according to Hernández Sampieri (2010), "Exploratory studies are those that aim to give us a general, approximate view of a specific reality. This type of research is especially conducted when the chosen topic has been little explored and recognized, and even more so when it is difficult to formulate precise or general hypotheses about it." Therefore, it will be a cross-sectional study, that is, it takes a snapshot of a population at a specific point in time, which allows conclusions to be drawn about phenomena across a broad population. No subsequent studies will be conducted after the time in which this study is conducted. It will take a quantitative approach since the instrument will be developed in survey format, validated, analyzed, and reliable statistical studies will be produced. The sample is comprised of 700 students who will participate in the university, both in emerging and early adulthood. This will be a quantitative study, with a proportion formula that has a 5% error and a 1.96 confidence level. The sample size being studied in the Information Technology program is 250 students. 125 will be administered in the morning shift and 125 in the afternoon shift. An instrument is being developed that allows for the study of a maximum of 11 items that delve deeper into the problem. The instrument will be administered at the beginning of the September-December 2025 semester at the UTCJ. 3. Findings TABLE 1: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS N Sum Mean Std. Deviation. Variance Kurtosis Statistic Statistic Statistic Standard Error Statistic Statistic Statistic Standard Error Have you ever personally witnessed or experienced discrimination at the UTCJ? 250 470.00 1.8800 .03266 .51640 .267 .521 .307 Indicate the types of discrimination you believe occur most frequently at the UTCJ. 250 692.00 2.7680 .07900 1.24917 1.560 -.815 .307 Do you believe there are cases of linguistic discrimination in the TICS degree program? 250 691.00 2.7640 .06623 1.04723 1.097 -1.280 .307 Social Sciences and Education Research Review, Volume 12, Issue 2 – 2025 73 What types of discrimination do you believe occur most often in the TICS program? 250 800.00 3.2000 .07281 1.15122 1.325 -.527 .307 Would you accept into your friend group people who use a different language and/or speak with an accent different from what is common in the city? 250 292.00 1.1680 .03129 .49473 .245 9.754 .307 How do you feel around them? 250 411.00 1.6440 .07576 1.19792 1.435 .024 .307 Why would you discriminate against a person? 250 1449.00 5.7960 .05504 .87030 .757 18.882 .307 Do you feel, or have you felt, discriminated against because of the way you speak? 250 516.00 2.0640 .03181 .50291 .253 15.364 .307 Do you believe that a person's language or dialect interferes with being accepted in a group or in society? 250 502.00 2.0080 .05668 .89619 .803 .197 .307 Why do you think people discriminate against others? 250 567.00 2.2680 .06931 1.09589 1.201 -1.160 .307 Who do you think discriminates the most? 250 817.00 3.2680 .09761 1.54328 2.382 -1.588 .307 Valid N (listwise) 250 Total variance sum = 11.325 Variance of the sum of the items = 6995.61688 Table 1: The breakdown of the statistical analysis of the items is shown, as well as the calculation of the total sum and the variances. These data were used for the validation of the instrument. TABLE 2: Model Description Nombre del modelo MOD_4 Serie o secuencia 1 Have you ever personally witnessed or experienced discrimination at the UTCJ? 2 Indicate the types of discrimination you believe occur most frequently at the UTCJ. 3 Do you believe there are cases of linguistic discrimination in the TICS degree program? 4 What types of discrimination do you believe occur most often in the TICS program? 5 Would you accept into your friend group people who use a different language and/or speak with an accent different from what is common in the city? 6 How do you feel around them? 7 Why would you discriminate against a person? 8 Do you feel, or have you felt, discriminated against because of the way you speak? 9 Do you believe that a person's language or dialect interferes with being accepted in a group or in society? 10 Why do you think people discriminate against others? 11 Who do you think discriminates the most? Transformation non Non-seasonal Differencing 1 Seasonal Differencing 0 Seasonal period lenght No Periodicity Standardization Applied Distribution Type Normal Social Sciences and Education Research Review, Volume 12, Issue 2 – 2025 74 Ubication Estimated Scale Estimated Fractional rank estimation method Blom’s Rank assigned to ties Average rank of tied values TABLE 2: Applying the specifications of the MOD_4 model 1.Have you ever personally witnessed or experienced discrimination at the UTCJ? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 1.00 50 20.0 20.0 20.0 2.00 180 72.0 72.0 92.0 3.00 20 8.0 8.0 100.0 Total 250 100.0 100.0 1. Have you ever personally witnessed and experienced discrimination at UTCJ? The most common answer is "NO." Informal communications from the university mention that there are no well-known cases of any type of discrimination in general, although it is well known that the phenomenon, regardless of the type, occurs to a greater or lesser extent. A few students who have experienced discrimination or know of cases of it are still far from the answer. The answer "maybe" is more ambivalent when faced with the knowledge of this. 2.Indicate the types of discrimination you believe occur most frequently at the UTCJ. Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 1.00 54 21.6 21.6 21.6 2.00 40 16.0 16.0 37.6 3.00 94 37.6 37.6 75.2 4.00 34 13.6 13.6 88.8 5.00 28 11.2 11.2 100.0 Total 250 100.0 100.0 Social Sciences and Education Research Review, Volume 12, Issue 2 – 2025 75 2.Indicate the types of discrimination you think are most prevalent at UTCJ. The discrimination most frequently detected at UTCJ is linguistic discrimination, according to the results of the instrument applied. This is not discussed openly, but as a university that welcomes students from different regions, it is more prone to this type of discrimination. Then there is racial discrimination, which is highly observable among students in the IT program. Another warning sign is sexual discrimination, which is the most risky and the one that most raises fears about discussing this issue. This is mentioned based on work experiences within the Psychopedagogical Support Unit. Finally, subjects believe that ideological and religious discrimination are the least prevalent. 3.Do you think there are cases of linguistic discrimination in the IT career? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 1.00 27 10.8 10.8 10.8 2.00 91 36.4 36.4 47.2 3.00 47 18.8 18.8 66.0 4.00 84 33.6 33.6 99.6 5.00 1 .4 .4 100.0 Total 250 100.0 100.0 3.Do you think there are cases of linguistic discrimination in the IT career? The most common response to this item was "few"; although the phenomenon exists, it is not widely known among students. Social Sciences and Education Research Review, Volume 12, Issue 2 – 2025 76 4.What types of discrimination do you think are most common in IT program? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 1.00 33 13.2 13.2 13.2 2.00 27 10.8 10.8 24.0 3.00 66 26.4 26.4 50.4 4.00 105 42.0 42.0 92.4 5.00 19 7.6 7.6 100.0 Total 250 100.0 100.0 4.What types of discrimination do you think are most common in IT program? Although there are no cases brought to light outside the university, students do detect linguistic discrimination followed by ideological discrimination, where students believe that they feel discriminated against for having different political preferences. 5. Would you accept people with a different language or accent into your group of friends? Frequency Percent Valid Perdent Cumulative Percent Valid 1.00 220 88.0 88.0 88.0 2.00 19 7.6 7.6 95.6 3.00 10 4.0 4.0 99.6 4.00 1 .4 .4 100.0 Total 250 100.0 100.0 Social Sciences and Education Research Review, Volume 12, Issue 2 – 2025 77 5. Would you accept people with a different language or accent into your group of friends? The most frequent response is YES; students agree that they would accept people with different languages (for example, a native language) or even a different accent. 6. How do you feel about them? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 1.00 191 76.4 76.4 76.4 2.00 5 2.0 2.0 78.4 3.00 6 2.4 2.4 80.8 4.00 48 19.2 19.2 100.0 Total 250 100.0 100.0 6. How do you feel about them? Equality is perceived among students based on their responses and the flattening of the discrimination phenomenon into "I don't care." 7. Why do you discriminate against a person? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 1.00 4 1.6 1.6 1.6 2.00 3 1.2 1.2 2.8 3.00 5 2.0 2.0 4.8 4.00 1 .4 .4 5.2 5.00 2 .8 .8 6.0 6.00 235 94.0 94.0 100.0 Social Sciences and Education Research Review, Volume 12, Issue 2 – 2025 78 Total 250 100.0 100.0 7. Why do you discriminate against a person? This was the item with the greatest impact, since although the majority responded "I don't discriminate," some respondents responded that they do discriminate based on physical appearance and sexual orientation. What era are we in, then, as a Juarez student society? Freedom of expression, yes, with zero tolerance. 8. Do you feel or have you felt discriminated against in any way because of the way you speak? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative percent Valid 1.00 18 7.2 7.2 7.2 2.00 201 80.4 80.4 87.6 3.00 30 12.0 12.0 99.6 6.00 1 .4 .4 100.0 Total 250 100.0 100.0 8. Do you feel or have you felt discriminated against in any way because of the way you speak? The frequency of responses is NO, although in one of the instruments a student noted that he is discriminated against for speaking too quickly. It's curious how, even though open-ended questions were not included in the instrument, they still left notes of this type. 9. Do you think that a person's language or dialect interferes with being accepted in a group of people or in society? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent