Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication
Instructions
Exploring Culture
Some products that helped me gain understanding of cultural perspectives are lingro learning and talk abroad.
Above is a picture of one of the culture exploration introductions where we would learn about many other Spanish speaking cultures before we would answer questions about it and then do a deep dive into another Spanish speaking culture.
In lingro learning we had many different cultural exploration assignments throughout the semester. In those assignments I got to learn about different stereotypes and how the culture in Spanish speaking countries differs from the US. Talk abroad also helped learn about other cultures by talking to people from other countries and learning about things they like and their way of life. The picture shown above is one of the cultural exploration assignments that talks about professions and gender role sin Spanish speaking countries. It helped me learn that Spanish speaking countries can differ a lot from the US, by deep diving into these cultures and doing me own research I was able to learn so much about other cultures and many stereotypes and misconceptions.
Engaging in Communities
I believe engaging in immediate community, for example with those in your class can be very important in learning the Spanish language, as you are going through the class, they are with you and you can help one another. Engaging in the global community is also so important and can help you learn the language better, and also help you learn about so many different cultures. Learning about other cultures can help change your perspective and open your eyes to other ways of life.
Above is a snippet of my first talk abroad conversation audio.
Interpersonal Communication
Interpersonal communication that helped me learn this semester were TalkAbroad, conversations with my professor and discussion boards with my classmates. TalkAbroad helped me to learn about other cultures and perspectives while practicing speaking Spanish as well. Conversations with my professor helped me work to understand questions in Spanish as well as utilizing our vocab and forming sentences to respond back. Those conversations also helped with my pronunciation of Spanish word as well. Discussion boards with my classmates helped me learn about the Spanish culture while also learning about my class mates different perspectives. Discussion boards also helped me to form sentences in Spanish and to read in Spanish too.
TalkAbroad seemed pretty scary to me at first, but after the first conversation it was very cool and interesting. It was difficult to understand when the person I was talking too was talking so quickly and I could only understand bits and pieces of what they were saying. It helped my understanding so much and being able to form basic sentences. I was pretty good at using the vocab words, but to form sentences, next time I need to practice some more before beginning the conversation.
Conversations with my professor were very intimidating at first, but my professor helped me feel very comfortable and that helped me be able to communicate what I was thinking more clearly. Forming sentences was pretty difficult at first, but with lots of practice I have been able to improve some. I was good at using lots of vocab words to describe things that I was talking about. I learned a lot about forming sentences pertaining to my family and how to be healthy. I would study how to conjugate more next time so I can communicate more clearly and correctly.
Discussion boards with my class mates helped me learn how to read and write in Spanish with each post. I was difficult to read what some of my classmates had posted, but by putting together bits and pieces of the Spanish I was able to mostly understand what they were trying to say. The more I read in Spanish the easier it got. I was pretty good at trying to form sentences. I would study the Spanish grammar more next time so I could write and read more complex sentences.
Above is my response to one of the discussion boards and a couple of my classmates responses.
Presentational Speaking
A example of presentational speaking I did this semester were introducing myself to the class as well as recording myself pronouncing different Spanish words for my professor. On Lingrolearning I also had to speak different sentences for my professor to grade later.
Above is the link to the video of me pronouncing Spanish words and the Spanish alphabet.
Introducing myself to the class was pretty easy, but pronouncing some of the Spanish words we difficult and I needed some more practice before I can say them well. Recording sentences in Lingrolearning was difficult to. Forming the sentences and then speaking them were a lot harder than anticipated, but the more we did I left as though I got better at it.
Presentational Writing
Some examples of presentational writing I completed this semester were writing sentences about the different things asked in the cultural exploration tab on lingrolearning. Another example would be writing my opinion on things in Spanish in the discussion boards for all of my classmates to read and respond to.
Above is a picture of one of my cultural exploration deep dives where I wrote about some of the different professions in Peru.
The cultural exploration writing helped me to learn about other cultures and also help my writing in Spanish. It was difficult to write in Spanish but the more I did it the easier it got. I could learn even more vocab to help it go better next time. The discussion boards helped me learn how to listen to Spanish as well as read and write in Spanish. If I learned more vocab next time it would be helpful, but I felt that I did pretty well with the discussion boards overall.
Interpretive Listening
Listening to different audio files on the quizzes and exams then answering questions about what I heard. Another way was the videos we had to listen to for our discussion boards so we could answer the questions. I also had to listen to videos in lingrolearning for vocab and grammar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvGi7CrnqKc
Above is one of the many audios we had to listen to to answer our discussion board for the week.
It was challenging to listen to these audios when the people talk very fast and my Spanish is very poor. Putting together bits and pieces of what they were saying helped me to understand all of it and respond how I was asked to. I found it very interesting to learning about all of the differences in Spanish speaking cultures and how the words are pronounced are also very cool. I was able to understand Spanish a little better after each video and overall really helped my understanding of the Spanish language.
Interpretive Reading
Some examples of interpretive reading activities I completed this semester were the cultural exploration tabs where I had to read what other people had to say about their home country and then answer questions on. Another example would be the articles I read to be able to complete some disscusion boards this semester.
https://www.expatica.com/es/healthcare/healthcare-basics/healthcare-system-101467/
Above is the link to one of the articles we had to read for a discussion board we had.
It was hard to read in Spanish with such minimal knowledge of the language. But it was also interesting to learn about all the differences and similarities between Spanish speaking countries and the US. Each assignment helped grow my vocab and ability to read in Spanish as well. Reading these articles also helped change my perspective on Spanish speaking countries.