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

Exploring Culture

As I started this course I struggled with grammar and learning how different genders, roots, stems, etc. all went together. I believe that the different practice and explanations in lingo learning helped me improve my grammar in this way. I had a hard time remembering the rules for congregation and relied on exposure and guessing to do so. After a while I realized that when I took the time to understand how it worked that I was able to perform certain rules better than when I just relied on practice.

It helped a lot to learn vocabulary for each unit to a better degree before proceeding in the unit because it gave me a solid foundation on the topic that was being described in each segment. I would start lessons with the flash cards in lingro learning. A lot of vocabulary I needed to keep relearning, but I believe that a lot of it eventually stuck from learning initially, then reenforcing through practice and repetition.

I enjoyed putting my practice to the test by having conversations with a native speaker. I was able to see what I was capable of communicating and understanding. It was very insightful and helpful for building confidence in communicating in a different language.

Engaging in Communities

By speaking with a native speaker, I was able to get a better understanding of culture in Spanish worlds from Nicaragua. We were able to practice speaking and listening to Spanish, which really helped me learn, but also to learn about the way that she lived too. Things that were similar were the fact that we both enjoyed being with our families; talking and eat, or traveling to the beach! We both liked sports, we differed on the kind that we enjoyed and certain sports are more popular here in America then in Nicaragua like American football vs “soccer.” The foods we talked about were different as well.

It was good practice for Spanish, but also to help me learn about a different culture and how they are very similar in ways and very different in others. It helped me remember that our world that we live in within our own communities can seem like everything, but there are so many around the world that exist at the same time enjoying similar things that we all have in common!

It is important to value our own community that we live in and participate to make it better. It is also important to realize that there are other communities in the world besides our own; some vert alike and some very different that we can learn from.

Interpersonal Communication

TalkAbroad was very insightful for language learning and being able to speak with a native speaker to see how the language actually works. Practicing with someone who lives in a Hispanic country helped me try out my vocabulary and see what weaknesses I had to work on in the future. Discussion boards and post that forced us to write and read in Spanish were definitely helpful in learning to apply grammar and sentence structure into real topics and discussions.

I was able to learn from my talks with my professor and see good techniques for communicating in a different language even when it was difficult. For example, when I did not have the vocabulary word that I needed to describe what I was trying to say, I had to find a different way of saying it that included vocabulary that I had previously learned. This helped prepare me for TalkAbroad conversations and even when trying to use Spanish with people in real life.

Presentational Speaking

Speaking and practicing conversations in Flipgrid was helpful in practicing for future “live” conversations. Here is an example of how I was able to practice:

In these conversations it was challenging to understand and then create a response in my mind that included vocabulary and sentence structure that I was good at. Sometimes I had to practice beforehand some things that I was rusty on, and sometimes I would surprise myself and remember things as I was speaking which I could use in my response!

Presentational Writing

Writing in discussion board post was helpful to practicing applying Spanish to a variety of topics. It was very helpful when I had to write sentences in Spanish on a topic that we were discussing in the class

Interpretive Listening

Listening in Lingro learning, flip grid and even on YouTube like the video below was helpful in practicing to understand people as they spoke.

Interpretive Reading

We did a lot of reading in Lingro learning as well as on quizzes. I think it was very beneficial to practice reading long stories or articles and then have to answer questions about them. It was very challenging because there was always a lot of words that I did not know, but this was useful in training myself to continue to read and translate the words that I did know and use context to figure out what it was talking about. Even reading instructions that were in Spanish was helpful in practicing my understanding by reading.