Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Reflection

This spring of 2022, I took Spanish 202 as an asynchronous course. Since I loved my last Spanish course as an asynchronous class, I decided to take this one online as well.

Like last semester, I enjoyed the consistent schedule of biweekly quizzes, projects to assess my knowledge on the modules, and conversations with the professor and on Talk Abroad. However, this class was the most challenging Spanish course I’ve ever taken. That being said, I struggled a lot more with the homework, quizzes, and new vocabulary and verbs. There were times when I would get frustrated and wanted to give up, but I powered through and tried my best, which paid off in the end.

Resources that helped me gain more confidence with the new material were setting up Zoom calls with the professor, making flashcards, and re-doing assignments until I got a better score. Repeating these steps to better understand the course were the key to not only passing the class, but practice my Spanish speaking skills. Besides the new knowledge and further education in the language, I also got a lot more confidence to speak Spanish outside of the assignments. This course encouraged me to go beyond the assignments and brought Spanish into my everyday life.

The following document is one of the first projects that we completed in the class; A writing composition that I worked extremely hard on. It is a summary of “Viaje a la Universidad”, a story about Francesco Jiménez going to college for the first time and his identity being challenged.

Proyecto19.SPAN202.EmilyBrooks

Exploring Culture

In one of my favorite modules, we learned about traditions and customs, which gave the opportunity to research other countries’ cultures. The module started with reading a story about how the drink Mate became an important part of Spanish countries like Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, and many more. Through the vocabulary, I learned that it isn’t just a drink, but a way to greet and welcome others into one’s home. There’s a process of how it’s made, shared and even specific language to use when not wanting anymore. I have my own traditions in my house, but it made me think about why customs are significant throughout the world and how it communicates hospitality in different cultures.

Furthermore, I got to share and learn customs with my classmates in a discussion board. My mom has always made a drink called coquito for Christmas, which originates from Puerto Rico, but I hadn’t learned much about it until I researched more for the post. I also loved reading about my classmates cultures and customs to further broaden my interests and respect.

The document below is my discussion board post that I wrote about why coquito is a special drink to my family and the culture of Puerto Rico.

DiscussionBoard21.SPAN202.EmilyBrooks

Engaging in Communities

My abuela, my grandmother on my mom’s side of the family, is fluent in Spanish and only speaks a little bit of English. Growing up we got to say hello, happy birthday, and ask how the other was in English since I didn’t grow up speaking Spanish. The more I’ve gotten to practice this semester however, the more I’ve been able to speak with her. In the module about identity, there was a reading about the large population of Puerto Rican people in New York and how cultures can mix together to create new ones. Most of my family, including my abuela live in New York, so I got the chance to ask her how her Puerto Rican roots grew in the city, what she misses about Puerto Rico, and how it shaped her identity. It helped me learn more about my own family, but also an experience specific to her.

The following artifact is a discussion board post I wrote regarding my own identity and how growing up with my dad, a non-Spanish speaker, affected how others viewed my siblings and I, which I shared with my abuela. Due to Covid-19, unfortunately I haven’t been able to see her for a long time, but I also included a picture of the last time I did see my family and abuela.

DiscussionBoard18.SPAN202.EmilyBrooks

Interpersonal Communication

Unlike most of the Spanish classes I’ve taken, I had a lot more professor interviews and two Talk Abroad conversation assignments. All of them were challenging, but my professor and the two partners I got the opportunity to speak with were very kind and helpful. Furthermore, unlike the past semesters, I was a lot less nervous! I’ve participated in 5 Talk Abroad conversations throughout my Spanish career at Old Dominion, and with each one it got easier to meet new people.

The first Talk Abroad I did this year was with Yarimar Jara. Our topics were stereotypes and identity. Yarimar is from Costa Rica, so it was interesting to hear her responses about how stereotypes aren’t prominent in her country. It was really cool to see the contrast since stereotypes in United States culture are extremely common. We also discussed a lot of things we had in common, which included our love for pets and our families. She also taught me a few new vocabulary words about what she is studying in school. Overall, she was a great partner and very invested in our conversation, which made me want to learn more about her experiences and thoughts.

The second Talk Abroad I did was with Lisandra Ruiz, who is from Cuba. We talked about social media, the affect it has own our culture and society, as well as customs that we celebrate with our families. We were in agreement about the negative affects social media has on us and talked about what we had a lot in common with our traditions. She was amazing as well, and helped me throughout the conversation to make sure I was using the proper conjugations and vocabulary. All in all, I appreciate the time they took to talk to me and the new perspectives I got to hear.

Below is the audio recording of Yarimar and I’s conversation.

TalkAbroad SPAN 202 by Emily Brooks

Presentational Speaking

After almost every unit, we were asked to make a video of ourselves presenting a topic related to the module. In the last unit, we were asked to talk about a food insecurity in a country of our choice. The presentation was supposed to include an introduction with a hook to catch the attention of the listener, a proposal to what the problem was and the affects it has on communities, and lastly give solutions to what could be done to help.

At first, these speaking projects were very difficult. We weren’t allowed to read off of anything, so at times it was really hard to remember all of the information I needed to include. I would record a video, but forgot to say a specific subject, so I would have to re-do it multiple times. It was extremely frustrating at first. However, I started to practice a lot more by talking myself through it before recording and trying to make it feel like I was having a conversation, rather than trying to remember word for word of what I wanted to say. In the last module, it was so much easier because of the steps I used to practice.

The following video is the project recording of me utilizing my speaking and conversational skills to talk about the long term affects on the environment when growing avocados.

Project#24 SPAN202 by Emily Brooks

Presentational Writing

In the first module, we learned and talked about stereotypes. While we were still easing into the class, the first project was to write an essay about stereotypes about a community or place, then give solutions of how we can debunk them. It was a chance to speak about something close to me and advocate for why most assumptions about the community I chose were wrong.

I’ve struggled with some mechanical aspects of writing in Spanish in the past, but for the most part it is my favorite way of communication. This project wasn’t easy, especially since I had a lot to say and was still trying to get back into the groove after break. However, once I broke down the steps of writing a cohesive essay, it was much easier. I figured out my introduction, a thesis, points to discuss, solutions to address, then a conclusion. I utilized this strategy throughout past semesters to be able to organize my thoughts before writing the essay itself.

The following document is the composition I wrote about stereotypes of the LGBTQ+ community.

StereotypesComp.SPAN202.EmilyBrooks

Interpretive Listening

During the unit about influencers and social media, we were asked to watch a video about the dangers of fake influencers and how easy it is to fool followers into fraud. It was a ten minute video in only Spanish. Then, we wrote a discussion board response to answer guiding questions and to express our thoughts.

I had never listened to anything in Spanish in that length before. I was very intimidated and had to re-watch certain parts of it to fully understand what was going on. After a few times of rewinding it, I felt like I wasn’t getting it. Still, I tried to use context clues to fully grasp the concept and turned on subtitles for parts I couldn’t hear. It was a difficult assignment, but I’m glad I pushed through to the end and tried something new. Next time I listen to a video or conversation that long, I want to develop more of my listening skills by using context to learn new vocabulary and pay more attention to the verb tenses being used.

Below is the discussion board response of the video and the questions that were posted.

DiscussionBoard20.SPAN202.EmilyBrooks

Interpretive Reading

In the homework, each unit concluded with an assignment to do research a specific topic of a Spanish Speaking country then write a summary of the findings. It is a chance to explore culture and society norms of another place, as well as practicing research and reading skills. This assignment asked for research about a specific term, whether it be Hispanic, Latino, or Latinx, and research who uses the term and why.

When starting these research assignments, most websites that have information are in Spanish. Not only was it an opportunity to summarize what I found, but navigating and reading vocabulary that I haven’t learned yet. It was difficult, but instead of trying to figure out what each word meant, I tried to piece together the vocab and verb tenses I did recognize. Although I did use English and Spanish websites to research my response, next time I would like to only use Spanish websites to further practice my reading skills.

The following document includes my response of investigating the difference between being Hispanic and Latino and the sources I used.

CultureInvestigation.SPAN202.EmilyBrooks