Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication
Address the reflection exercises in each of the following sections. For each section, you will need to embed portions of these assignments and activities as artifacts to substantiate your reflection. Then, at the end of each section, include a link to the document or embed it as a PDF.
Tutorials are available:
- Embedding a PDF
- Embedding Media (Images, Audio)
- Embedding a Video
An Effective Reflection Is
- Written in English.
- A demonstration, explanation, comparison of skill and growth described through what you learned and the challenges you had in that learning while highlighting your best work.
- A discussion of how you overcame any weakness or obstacles. Explain what you mean.
- Supported by evidence as represented by your artifacts (course materials, photographs, video, conversations, projects, news reports, authentic materials, etc.).
- Specific, addressing particular strengths, weakness, skills, transformative experiences, etc., avoiding vague generalizations (ex: “I learned a lot.”).
An Effective Reflection is not
- Only sharing an artifact without context or discussion.
- Only a description or explanation of an artifact. Focus on your learning and growth as a result of having completed that experience.
- An attempt to justify your work to an instructor. Instead, think more broadly about future audiences that might benefit from seeing evidence of your work and the skills you are developing.
Artifacts
A good artifact is a portion or clip of an assignment. It needs to be carefully selected to provide evidence/proof that supports what you are saying in your reflection.
Your reflection will help you determine what that will be. It is a quest for quality. It will represent you academically and professionally, and have personal meaning. It can be written, audio, or video.
At the end, ask yourself if the artifacts best demonstrates your abilities and growth over time.
At the end of your reflection in each section, link or embed the assignment/artifact. If the assignment has multiple pages and seems to overwhelm the section, consider adding just the first page and offering to provide the rest upon request.
Instructions
Exploring Culture
I have been around all types of cultures as I have moved around a lot due to my dad being in the military. For me I would say having an open mind and the values of not being judgemental can allow you to understand cultural perspectives because everyone grows up a different way. I have gained understanding of cultural perspectives by conversation and supporting smaller local/cultural businesses.
I grew up in poverty and experienced struggles myself as well as being mixed in many different cultures. In Hawaii, most of my friends were Hispanic as well as African American. I have always been aware of the variety of cultures and been understanding because I feel like that’s the best we can all do. I have always viewed the world as a disgusting place full of negativity. I have always just tried being that guy who cracks jokes and puts a smile on everyones face because you never know the problems people face at home and in the real world. I feel like for me I was fortunate to grow up around a plethora of cultures building that understanding at a young age. My roommate and best friend since 7th grade is hispanic. When you support local businesses and see how excited they are when you give back and just help out a little but you never forget it. You start to want to always put a smile on peoples faces and give back as much as you can because the world is so cruel. I have always worked through my personal problems by giving back to others. You can learn so much now a days about culture by scrolling the web and the amount of books/articles out there. There is always something new you can learn everyday and that is what motivates me.
Engaging in Communities
To me engaging in your community is in top of the line for priorities. I grew up in a less fortunate neighborhood/area so I have seen and know what its like to struggle. I realized at a young age how cruel the world is and how easy it is to make a difference and put a smile on someones face. Community service is something that builds character.
I don’t have any photos but I take pride in my community service and what I was able to do for those who are struggling. I used to go out after every paycheck and spend one hundred dollars at Walmart or dollar tree on food, water, and some clothes to give back to the homeless. When I lived in Orange Park, Florida my parents and I would donate clothes and my toys to families. My mom would make extra extra food to give to the neighbors. We knew that even though we had our problems there always people out there that are struggling more and its important to realize that. No need to be selfish.
Interpersonal Communication
Talk Abroad is Talk Abroad is an organization that pairs one person trying to learn a foreign language with another person who fluently speaks that language. We did discussion boards in a way where we would comment on other peoples projects and work to further the conversation and give feedback on how people did. We did a lot of participation activities in class dealing with reading and writing to further our skills and practice. We did a good amount of group discussions as well which helped with the oral side.
Our teacher would do spontaneous group/class discussions where it would further the conversation as well as the chapter we are in for better understanding. When we turned in our video projects our teacher would play some in class so we can see what other people did to help us when we have to do something like that again as well as taking notes. We did activities like using vocabulary to write qualities we look for in a person then getting in a group to discuss and see all the vocabulary used. Each assignment a question or some type of confusion is answered every time, like how to pronounce a word or conjugate a certain word depending on the situation. Remembering the vocabulary and saying it in a conversation was very hard for me. I overcame it by practicing and reviewing. I excelled at conjugation. I learned by asking questions and paying attention in class discussion.
Presentational Speaking
We had many activities on Contraseña where we would listen to an audio then respond. We also had in class interviews with the teacher where we would have a full conversation in Spanish. I am not able to include any of the audios and the interviews were not recorded.
Some would be greetings where we would respond back and the teacher would grade. I excelled at the pronounciation of most words as well as the accent since I have a good bit of experience in Spanish. Next time I would make sure I conjugate the verbs/vocab so I don’t have to say yo every sentence. For the interview we had a broad idea of the questions being asked so we could prepare. We would sit in front of the teacher and respond the best of our abilities to his questions to show our progress.
Presentational Writing
I had to fill out a pamphlet of my schedule and what I do on a daily basis as well as what I have to do on certain days. I had to also write a paragraph about it.
I had to include every activity I do on a daily basis such as when I eat my meals throughout the day, the classes I have, and when I do every day activities like hitting the gym. I also included duties I have to do on certain days like meetings for IFC and Chapter for my fraternity. From this I grew in my vocabulary area as well as how to set up a paragraph. Remembering the names of courses became easier and figuring out how to explain my activities was difficult. I overcame the difficulties by looking through our class powerpoint and going over vocabulary to familiarize myself. Next time I will be more descriptive in my paragraph.
Interpretive Listening
We did a lot of group discussions as well as group listenings. We would listen to an audio and write down what we heard and the overall conversation going on. We also had assignments online where we would listen to audios then respond by sending an audio of us responding.
I have listened to basic greetings as well as background questions and questions about schedules. I am not able to link a recording from contraseña where I would turn them in. It was challenging for me to figure out the words to put together to then speak as well as the pronunciation for certain words. I overcame this difficulty by practice as well as asking questions in class discussions. What I found interesting is the pronunciation of some words and how some words are silent. My takeaway from the listening experience is the overall flow of conversations and how they should go. Each activity strengthened my vocabulary as well as my pronunciation and prepared me for projects where I had to talk and explain in Spanish.
Interpretive Reading
We had to complete multiple assignments on contraseña where you would read the descriptions of people and their work schedule then figure out who they belong too. We also did many group readings as well in class assignments. We would get in a group and take turn reading then figuring out what the passage was saying. All of these assignments were either on paper or on contraseña.
It was very challenging for me keep along and stay on track as some vocabulary and words would throw me off. My takeaway from the readings were not only just the new vocabulary I would recognize and learn but the structure of Spanish writing. Some sentences are different like in English you would say my favorite class is but in Spanish you would put mi clase favorita es. From each assignment I grew in the understanding of learning new tricks and fixing the mistakes I was making like overcomplicating my sentences. I also understood the importance of conjugation.
When you have finished adding content to thistle page, delete all the instructions except the link to the Modes of Communication.
When you have finished adding content to this page, delete all the instructions except the link to the Modes of Communication.