Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication
Exploring Culture
A few practices that helped me gain understanding of cultural perspectives were using Talk Abroad to speak to native Spanish speakers and the VHL Cultura videos.
Talk Abroad allowed me to speak with two women in two different parts of the world. Alba was from Spain. Through our interview I learned a bit about Spain, Alba’s opinions on clothing (which were very similar to my own), and our pets. Michelle was from Guatemala and lived in the city. Through our interview I learned about the city of Guatemala, the native food, and Michelle’s favorite things to do. Talk Abroad was an eye-opening experience that gave me a unique perspective of the Hispanic and Spanish worlds. It also allowed me to see exactly how much my skills in speaking Spanish had progressed. The Cultural videos helped me to better understand values and attitudes in the Hispanic culture by letting me see and hear what it was like to be in Spanish speaking country. They challenged my world view by making me acknowledge the fact that the world is filled with cultures vastly different from my own.
Engaging in Communities
It is important to engage in your immediate community so that you develop an understanding as to how your community works and flows together. In turn, this is why it is important to engage in the global community. Communities across the world must learn to interact with one another peacefully. An understanding that every community is different must be made to allow such peace.
Throughout my time on my high school’s P.R.I.D.E. (preparedness, respect, integrity, determination and excellence) team, we volunteered our help to several community events. For example, the Southern Cove Volunteer Fire Company holds a meal once a month for the community to enjoy free of charge at the old Replogle school building. Our P.R.I.D.E. team contributed by helping to set up for the meal, serve the meal, and clean up after the meal. This allowed us to engage with members of the community in a fun, stress-free environment.
Interpersonal Communication
Talk Abroad was our main speaking activity this semester. We were required to have schedule two interviews this semester. As COVID-19 restrictions are still in place, we were not able to pair up with a partner in class to practice. We listened to audio for our tests and through VHL.
Talk Abroad was extremely helpful as it gave me the chance to have to work through understanding both the words and the accents. From the first interview to the second, I felt that I gained some confidence and was not nearly as nervous for the second interview. Writing down my questions ahead of time and practicing with my roommate helped me to be very prepared for each interview. I have to continue to progress with my Spanish vocabulary, so that I have more to say in the interviews. The audio activities in the tests and VHL were fairly simple although slightly more difficult to understand than the women I spoke to in Talk Abroad. It helped to see the person speaking. It made it easier for me to determine what they were saying.
Presentational Speaking
This semester we were required to write a paragraph for a few of our tests. We were then required to record ourselves reciting the paragraph that was written.
I did not feel as though these were difficult assignments. The most challenging part was determining what to write. As far as reciting the paragraph, I have always had a fairly easy time reading and pronouncing Spanish words. I suppose that nervousness was a challenge I always have to overcome regardless of whether or not I am speaking to a camera or an actual person. As our recordings were required to be uploaded as mp3s, I am unable to upload these to WordPress.
Presentational Writing
We wrote two different compositions this semester. Both required us to answer many different questions about our lives, our routines, and our clothes.
Understanding and answering questions became easier with each composition. Even if I did not quite understand every single word in a question, I could understand enough to answer the question adequately. This allowed me to be able to complete these assignments without too much difficulty. Next time, however, I would like to be able to fully complete the assignments without using my written vocabulary as a crutch.
SPAN-102-Preguntas-para-la-Composicion-DOS-Primera-parteInterpretive Listening
We had several different listening activities we had to complete. The VHL recordings required us to listen and interpret what was being said to answer questions pertaining to the recordings. Tests and quizzes also involved a listening portion.
I had to listen to recordings about several different subjects such as someone’s routine or what they had to eat. I had to listen to a recording and say whether or not it was true or false. One thing that was challenging was when the speaker would speak too quickly, and I could not catch what they said. As always, I am reminded that the faster a language is spoken, the harder it is to understand. I believe that my ears have begun to adapt and listen for different key words and sounds.
Interpretive Reading
This semester we were required to read brief paragraphs from VHL and general readings from the PowerPoints.
These activities were fairly challenging. I was able to understand what the readings were about through bits and pieces. My takeaway was that I need to be able to understand the little pieces of the sentences as well as the big pieces. I believe that with each assignment I was able to understand more parts of the sentences.