Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

In my time throughout SPAN 102, there were quite a few things that assisted me with my understanding into the cultural perspectives of Spain. For example, one of our discussion board posts was about how important gender stereotypes are in Spanish culture. It is something that is taught very early to children in Spanish speaking countries, and it was shown via a video where children were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. Both genders had completely different answers for what they wanted to be, and what they would be if they were born as another gender. Another example of cultural exploration was when we were taught about the healthcare system in Spain. I originally believed that Spain’s healthcare system would not have been that great compared other countries such as America and Canada. But after learning about it I was amazed by how advanced and affordable it was compared to American healthcare. In addition, the Spanish healthcare system is willing to treat undocumented patients for only 40% of the medication cost. This level of acceptance shows that Latin American people value friendliness and respect in their culture.

Engaging in Communities

There is a lot of importance when it comes to engaging in your community. When it comes to this course, the community that we have is each other. In almost every module we have to interact with each other in a way that allows us to convey our feelings to each other. These interactions could be anything from agreements, disagreements, or just conveying our emotions to each other in the Spanish language. Below you will see an artifact of students, myself included, conversing with each other through comments on a discussion board post.

Interpersonal Communication

Within this course, there were quite a few interpersonal oral activities that we had to complete. These activities being both TalkAbroad assignments, the oral exams, and the conversation assignments. In the oral exams we would have to answer a series of questions to make sure we understood the material, while also being able to hold a conversation with our instructor. The TalkAbroad assignments were focused more on holding a conversation, asking questions, while also answering or following up on anything that our partner was saying.

Both of these types of assignments have helped me grow when it came to learning the Spanish language. It is generally easier to read and write a language than it is to speak it. However, by doing these TalkAbroad assignments, I have been able to get over my fear of speaking a language that I am not fluent in, out loud. It has also helped me remember some things that I normally would not have. It is difficult to remember words when they do not have meaning to you. But by having an actual conversation, hearing these words more and more coming from a native speaker, it becomes much easier to understand what they mean as the words start becoming more meaningful and easier to latch onto. Even though I am finished with foreign languages after this course, if I ever need more confidence in speaking another language, I will definitely use the TalkAbroad website again, as it greatly helps with the learning process.

Audio of my first TalkAbroad Assignment here.

Presentational Speaking

For one of our assignments for the course, we were meant to hold a conversation with our instructor through a pre-recorded video. Our instructor would ask questions, and we would have to pause and answer them. This assignment was a bit challenging because it was our first time holding a real conversation with another person in a foreign language. In the video we had to answer questions as usual, but we also had to ask them and change our inflections as if we were holding a real conversation. When you ask a question, it has to sound like a question, and when you’re casually talking you have to sound friendly. That was the most challenging part of the assignment, as most people are generally trying to figure out how to answer the questions and follow the conversation, making it difficult to show emotions properly.

Presentational speaking video here.

Presentational Writing

When it comes to presentational writing, in one of our assignments we were supposed to do some research and learn about sports and gender inequality in our chosen country. The country that I picked was Puerto Rico. I felt that I grew a lot while doing this assignment as I was able to learn many new things about Puerto Rico and other Spanish speaking countries in the process. We have done many research assignments in this course, so it was quite easy for me to present my findings in writing.

Interpretive Listening

In one of our discussion board assignments, we had to watch a video that was completely in Spanish without subtitles. This video was of a person interviewing random people on the streets of Spain about what their favorite sports were. The questions that were asked were “¿Te gusta practicar deportes?” and “¿Cuál es tu deporte favorite?”. These questions mean “Do you like to practice sports?” and “What sport is your favorite?”. With this in mind there are only so many ways that someone could answer this question. This taught me how easy it to understand what people were saying in Spanish when you pay attention to their inflection and important keywords. Outside of this, it was very interesting and compelling to see how many people practice sports in Spain, while also seeing all the different types of sports that they enjoy. One would think that soccer would be the most prominent one, however, tennis seemed to have an overwhelming number of fans in this area.

Interpretive Reading

As I mentioned earlier, there was an assignment where I wrote a short research report on sports and gender inequality in Puerto Rico. However, while doing my research I had to read through many articles and websites that were written in the Spanish language. Because this was an assignment very early on, it was quite difficult to fully understand all of the words used. With this in mind, I had to interpret the words and meanings used in order to try and understand what was written. It was very difficult, though it helped me grow when it came to learning the language, as I figured out many tricks to maneuver through words that would otherwise be unknown to me.