Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

Some of the practices that helped me gain an understanding of cultural perspectives were the mini activities and readings for every chapter in the Aventura Textbook. In the textbook contained readings, assignments, sections that allowed you to work on your pronunciation.In every chapter there was an culture section in the textbook and on the online textbook contained a culture video that went briefly in about a certain topic. For instance, I learned that in most spanish-speaking countries, family and society places very little pressure on young adults to move out of their family households due to the economic and cultural standpoint.

These forms of practice helped me retain the information l was receiving in class and by online. I developed an appreciation for the different cultures through the assignments and readings l was tasked with. I do not think my worldview was challenged but it was rather enhanced with useful knowledge about various countries. I came into this semester with an open-mind regarding the spanish language and I was grateful to begin this journey despite the global circumstances. Learning about different countries and their cultures allowed me to appreciate the people more because of their authenticity and how close knitted they are.

Engaging in Communities

In English, give a brief description of the value of, and importance of, engaging in your immediate community and the global community.

Reflect on your experience and participation in these communities. Include artifacts such as photos, audio/video clips, etc.

Interpersonal Communication

Throughout the semester, We were given multiple discussion boards asking simple questions to refresh our brain of what we learned during the week. Also, we were given orals and audio activities on Aventuras supersite from time to time to build our proficiency in speaking.

The interpersonal communication activities included:listening & reading activities and discussion board posts. My listening comprehension increased gradually because of the various activities we did over zoom and on Aventuras Supersite. A struggle l overcame over time was my ability to answer questions by answering in complete sentences. I overcame this struggle by reading more articles and using Aventuras Supersites questions and responding aloud.As the class went on, my confidence grew in understanding the reading and comprehension aspects of the language.One thing I would do differently next time is my preparation for the class. I struggled with preparing for the class zoom sessions at time and cramming in information last minute.

Presentational Speaking

During this semester, My professor gave us Oral evaluations that was given every chapter.For each oral presentation, my professor gave us guidelines of what types of questions would be asked.

Prior to taking this class, I took spanish twice in highschool. I have always been a nervous speaker because I did not apply myself to really work on vowel sounds and this class helped me build my confidence by continuously answering questions on zoom. Another way I strengthened my speaking ability was through the oral evaluations. I worked with Jon Dowd and we both challenged each other through each oral evaluation to pronounce and articulate our words. By the final evaluation, I seen progress in my presentational skills and I was proud to see my growth.A challenge that I noticed throughout my presentations were that I would pronounce words to fast to try and imitate native speakers and I learned that it is better to speak at my own pace so the listener can articulate what is being said.

Presentational Writing

Throughout this semester I wrote different writings to include: compositions and activities

During this semester we were given the task of writing two compositions. I was nervous at the thought of writing a composition because I did not know what to expect.As the time came near to write the compositions l began to prepare more often for it to ensure I earned a grade I would be proud of.The difficulties I faced were during the compositions and activities, I made some grammar mistakes that were preventable but due to the time crunch I made these small errors. As the semester progressed I learned how to write efficiently and make use of my time. One thing I could do better next time would be using more vocabulary and more pronouns to discuss expression.

Interpretive Listening

Throughout this semester, there were multiple assignments in Aventuras Supersite that required us to listen to a conversation and decide whether or not the conversation was logical or not.

Throughout the semester the listening conversations varied in topics from place of origin to discussions regarding weekend plans. The listening itself was not hard however the speed at which the speakers where speaking at was sometimes hard to understand certain words.As l got more familiar with the activities , l began to succeed at the activities. The most interesting piece of the whole listening experience is the pronunciation of each word and how well the people spoke. I have grown in each activity by learning how to quickly analyze the verbs and nouns being spoken to get a better understanding of what is being spoken.A takeaway from the listening experience would be to hear everything out and go back if you need to.

Interpretive Reading

An activity that we completed this semester was the Aventuras assignment for every chapter, particularly Aventuras:Un Domingo en familia.

Interpretive reading was a huge focal point in this semester. Particularly this assignment focused on analyzing, reading and speaking. There was not a specific challenging part about this assignment however attempting to use the manual speaking assignment was tricky in the sense of pronouncing everything right and making sure the audio was loud enough to hear me speak.A takeaway l learned from reading is that paying attention to sentence structure can help you out even if you are unsure/ don’t know some of the words.Im thankful I had the chance to take this class because I learned so much this semester and excited to use the language in everyday life.