Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

SPAN 101F

Exploring Culture

In SPAN 101F we were exposed to spanish culture on numerous occasion in a few different ways. We were shown videos of holidays in spain and on multiple occasions had to research into a spanish speaking country to see how they use certain words or how their universities compare to our in the United States (US). These exposures helped me realize the differences and similarities between our cultures. I was shown how extravagant their celebrations can be and how certain countries use specific words as sign of respect.

These videos and researched helped me visualize and understand how different cultures are so that I could more easily compare them to my own culture. It helped me better understand my own culture because I am hispanic and was able to relate to some of what I read or saw and see that my culture and practices were mild variations of those we learned about. These videos and researched only further opened my worldwide view. I am constantly learning about new cultures and practices as I have lived outside of the US for the last 3.5 years in three different countries. I never really had stereotypes or misconceptions about hispanic culture because I am hispanic.

Engaging in Communities

It is important to engage in your local community to get to know those who live within it and to see what’s near you and appreciate it. Engaging in your local community can help you understand what the culture is in that area and be part of it, learn it, and participate in it. Engagement in the global community is important to help you open your perspective. I would argue it is more important to engage in your global community to truly appreciate how your local community is and to discover how different other cultures are. Try new things like different foods, see different places, and reflect and compare them to back home.

I have traveled to numerous countries in my time outside the US and feel that I have really been exposed to various culture and tried so many new things. Below are two examples, Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain and some Japanese street food, Fujiyoshida, Japan

Interpersonal Communication

In Span 101F we used Flipgrid, lingrolearning, and Canvas, to post videos, go through spanish lessons, and for discussion boards respectively. We would also use Zoom to video chat with our instructor. Outside of class I would try and communicate with my family with some new words I learned.

Most of my interpersonal activities were planned or scheduled. They were not scripted and we often had the freedom to use some words from large lists of vocabulary to talk or describe things. Speaking with my family or listing to spanish music was usually spontaneous. Both the school communication and my spontaneous communication allowed me to practice my spanish and become more familiar and comfortable with understanding the language. I did not have many difficulties as I have been through spanish course before and have been exposed to spanish my life through my family. I overall feel like I excelled at this course. I learned by reading and understanding the meaning of many new words I would not do anything differently next time.

Presentational Speaking

In a few of our Flipgrid videos we posted presentation videos explaining the assigned topics. In other we followed along pre-set conversations or responded to our classmates. I have not had to presentationally speak in Spanish as of yet outside of this class. 

For our first Flipgrid video we simply introduced ourselves in English and responded to each others videos. Our second presentational video we had to describe in spanish our favorite person and why they were our favorite person including some of their characteristics. This helped me practice speaking and using new words. I excelled at the pronunciation of the Spanish words. i would not have done anything different next time.

Presentational Writing

We never fully wrote here in Span 101F. Lingrolearning gave us many instances where we read stories, articles, or messages. Sometimes we would even have to fill in the blanks in these stories, articles, or messages including having to properly conjugate certain words.

Reading these stories, articles, or messages helped us practice undstaning Spanish through reading. In the instances where we had to fill in missing words this helped us practice choosing words that would complete the sentence and conjugating said words into the correct form. This was a little hard at first but became easier with practice.

Interpretive Listening

I lingrolearning, Flipgrid, and Canvas much of this course required us to listen to videos or audio pronunciations. This included listening and responding appropriately. Outside of class I sometimes listened to Spanish music.

We would listen to vocabulary videos in Canvas to allow us to hear the proper pronunciation of new words we were learning. In Lingrolearning we would listen to video conversations to follow along and answer follow up questions or audio samples of sentences or words that required us to choose a response to complete what we heard. This was challenging as some of the audio voices spoke fast and their pronunciations were sometime hard to interpret. This became easier as I got use to hearing individuals speak Spanish. It was interesting hearing how certain phrase were worded in conversation. I learned to try and keep up with native speakers as best as I can and try and process what they are saying in a timely manner.

Interpretive Reading

We completed a lot of interpretive reading in Lingrolearning. This ranged from us filling in blanks to sentences or reading articles then answering questions related to the articles to see how well we understood it.

This was one of the hardest parts of the class in my opinion as I realized it can be intimidating seeing whole articles in Spanish. We were exposed to numerous phrases that I was unsure about, luckily they were usually defined. I never overcame this difficulty and will need to continue practicing to get better. My take away from reading was that I understand less than I thought. I did feel that I grew with each practice but will continue to improve as I practice more.