Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication
Exploring Culture
I learned about various cultures during this class through both the “Cultura” readings and videos presented in the book, as well as through discussion board activities. By conducting research on different cultures and utilizing the information provided in the text, I have broadened my knowledge of different cultures and have a better understanding of their vast perspectives. These activities gave me a more in depth understanding of cultures I have never studied before.
Although there were countless examples of activities that aided in the expansion of my knowledge of other cultures, I chose this specific discussion board where I conducted research about Cuba. In the assignment I researched where the country was located, attractions, the preferred music, a celebrity, and popular food. Before conducting this research, I did not know much about Cuba, but I came to find that many of the attractions are similar to ones in the USA. The foods of Cuba, I found to be very interesting as well. Their typical foods are similar to ones I eat here as well. I expected there to be vast differences in my culture versus the culture in Cuba, but through my research I found many similarities, proving that we are as similar to each other, as we are different from each other.
Engaging in Communities
Engaging in communities is important for various reasons, the main reason I have come to realize is the sharing of knowledge. When we engage with others we can learn about each other’s cultures, needs, traditions, and lives. This knowledge and understanding makes a more tolerant, loving world, and can help create a better future.
When I was younger, I travelled to different countries to compete in Roller Hockey for Team USA. Through these differences I learned to appreciate the diversity of the world and realized that there are so many different ideas and thoughts, that can be shared through language. I knew little Spanish when travelling to these countries, so I was not able to communicate on my own very well, but with the translators I could speak with different people from all over the world. I met some of the most interesting people during these trips and it gave me a profound appreciation for culture and communication. The picture featured is of me interacting with school children in Chile after a competing in a hockey game they watched. It was an honor to communicate what I could with the children. Relating back to the class I was able to speak with a student from Guatemala in my first talk abroad. During this conversation I was able to learn more about her culture and experiences, while gaining experience using my learned Spanish. Experiences like this drive the sharing of knowledge and forms connections to people across the world making a unified global community.
Interpersonal Communication
The main interpersonal communication I did this semester was the Talk Abroad. I also participated in other interpersonal communication during class, while learning new material with my peers. Talk Abroad was the most influential on my showcase of what I have learned through the interpersonal communications in class, by allowing me to utilize my learned material to have a real-life spontaneous conversation with someone I have never met before.
I found Talk Abroad to be a very useful and eye-opening activity. Speaking in class prepared me for these activities, but I did not realize how much I knew until I was in the moment speaking in only Spanish. Speaking in class, completing homework, and participating in discussion boards are what I believe helped prepare me for these experiences. In my first Talk Abroad I was nervous but ended up talking well past the required time. I surprised myself with my ability to communicate my thoughts. My main difficulty in the first talk abroad was my nervousness, that while still present in my second talk abroad, was not as strong as in the first. This was mostly because I had more confidence in myself. Some other difficulties I encountered was that I wanted to communicate more than what I knew how to say, and as times it was hard for me to formulate my sentences instantaneously. To solve these problems, I must continue to learn more Spanish and practice speaking with native speakers more. Overall, I felt that my development through the course was demonstrated through these conversations and I was proud and surprised at my ability to utilize my knowledge.
Presentational Speaking
There were no formal presentational speaking assignments during this semester, but I do consider participation in class, by answering questions and reading sentences I wrote during class as presentational speaking. One of these, specifically, can be when the class analyzed the videos found in the homework, as well as any time we wrote answers to questions while reading new material.
Due to there being no formal presentation speaking assignments during this semester, I have chosen my participation in class as an artifact. Examples of this can be found in the recordings of class. There were many assignments where students were to prepare sentences and then read them during class. During the beginning of the class I was nervous and had a difficult time preparing these sentences, but as the class progressed my nerves subsided, and I had an easier time formulating the answers to activities. This resulted in more participation in class and in turn a deeper understanding of how to use the language. I feel like I could still be more prepared for all classes, as sometimes, I did not give myself ample time to complete the assignments.
Presentational Writing
I completed two writing compositions this semester that best reflect the criteria of presentational writing. The first composition included a “interview” of another student asking them questions about what they like to wear to school and their ideas of fashion. The second composition consisted of composing a review of a local restaurant.
I selected the second composition as my artifact, as it was a better representation of my understanding. During the first compositions, I had some short fallings. I was trying to make the assignment too complicated and in turn made many mistakes. Because of the countless mistakes in the rough draft it was hard for my professor to understand and make the remarks needed to complete a superb final draft. After this I learned that I need to keep this simple, and not try to over complicate assignments. This aided me in my second composition that I did much better on. I think that I did a good job on the rough draft which in turn created a better final draft. I sometimes struggle in remembering to include the plural forms in certain verbs and adjectives. This is an area that I must focus specifically on when moving forward in my studies.
Kaylee-Logan-Composition-2-FinalInterpretive Listening
This semester there were many recordings to listen to and videos to watch in our homework. The audio clips consisted of scenarios, identifying logical and illogical sentences, and identifying words. Videos in the course work consisted of “Cultura” videos and videos that are centered around a character named Marissa who is a student studying abroad. The videos depict different experiences she has, with some cultural aspects depicted as well.
In this specific assignment, the task was to listen to the audio and then answer which person would say those phrases. Although this assignment was completed towards the beginning of the schedule, I feel that it represents my continued success and hard work in learning to understand other people speaking Spanish. I completed this assignment with complete accuracy. During the beginning of the semester, I noticed I would need to listen to the audio several times before answering the questions. In order to overcome this, I began focusing on active listening. This helped me by being able to understand the speakers in my Talk Abroad experiences and by being able to understand the audios in assignments towards the end of the semester. With this work most of the time I would only have to listen to the audio once or twice in order to answer the questions prompted. Listening to these audios made me an active listener and it helped me to understand other Spanish speakers in real life.
Interpretive Reading
During the semester I read many “Cultura” lessons that gave insight into different cultures and customs. I also used various websites to conduct my research for discussion board posts. The “Cultura” lessons were the most common and utilized more than the websites I used for conducting research.
The “Cultura” activities were challenging as they were all in Spanish. I overcame being confused by some sentences by breaking down the sentence word by word and referring to past vocabulary lists if I am confused on certain words. By using these strategies, it made my comprehension of “Cultura” activities better and resulted in my success in homework assignments. This success is demonstrated by my completion of the assignment provided. The readings taught me many different aspects of Hispanic culture. This one specifically, located on page 205 of the Spanish textbook discussed the different fruits and vegetables of the Americas and what dishes they are mainly used in. These readings expanded my comprehension of the language, vocabulary, and culture.
