Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

Some products and practices that have helped me gain an understanding of cultural practices, include going to local restaurants owned by other ethnic backgrounds and serve food native to their culture. This allows me to see, hear and taste what it may be like in other cultures, since I have not yet travelled abroad. Though, traveling to different parts of the US, such as Florida, where Spanish-Speaking peopler are abundant has also allowed me to view their culture and gain a better understanding.

In the local Mexican-Owned restaurant that I goto, I can always hear the workers talk in Spanish behind the scenes, to each other. This allowed me to realize how common it is for people to speak Spanish in all areas of the US. This made me realize how hard it must of been for them to come and learn English as well to Spanish, but I think it is so neat that these workers can speak both languages well. This allowed me to work through a stereotype that everyone should be speaking English in America despite their background, because people come from so many different backgrounds and it is very hard to speak two languages.

Engaging in Communities

It is so important to engage in your local community as well as global, because a little can go a long way. One of your acts of service can influence a whole chain reaction in which people are choosing to help and volunteer their time to make their area and the world a better place. You may feel like you are so small in this world, but truly everything you can do to engage in the community will positively effect it in the long run.

Being able to participate in community activities allowed me to understand the importance of helping out your neighbors. I learned that even if my life is easy there is someone else right down the road who may be struggling and something so simple can help them. Some things that I have done this past semester in my local community is write letters to first responders and active military, deliver meals through Meals on Wheels and a food drive for a local food bank. These activities took a short amount of time and were really beneficial to our community.

Above is a picture of a letter I wrote to the law enforcement, which was an activity my coach of my lacrosse team put together and was so simple to do, yet impacted our local community.

Interpersonal Communication

Some interpersonal oral and audio activities that I completed this semester, include breakout rooms with classmates on zoom, and discussion boards that my classmates and I post to on BlackBoard.

I personally enjoy doing interpersonal communication in my Spanish class, because it allows me to bounce ideas off of other classmates. It also allows me talk with someone who is learning too, so that I don’t get discouraged and can see that we are all in the same boat. In breakout rooms, our professor gives us questions that we ask and answer with out classmates in Spanish which helps with us learning how to have a conversation and helps us with pronunciation of words. Sometimes for me it is difficult to pronounce words, but my classmates are able to correct me and tell me the right way to say something. I do well at understanding what the question is asking, and being able to answer it in a full sentence. I learned better pronunciation from this, and it bettered my conversation skills by allowing the conversation to flow.

Presentational Speaking

Some forms of presentational speaking activities that I have completed in Spanish 101 include 3 Interviews, one with my classmate and one with my professor.

I completed Interview 1 and Interview 2, both being challenging at first, but with practice I became more confident speaking and presenting to my peer and teacher. I excelled at memorizing what I had to say in Interview 1, and in Interview 2 I excelled at being able to comprehend and answer the questions being asked of me. Next time, I would spend more time review vocabulary in the textbook, so I can have more variety in my answers.

Here is a photo of me during Interview 1, on zoom with my partner, a video was too large to embed, but can be provided upon request.

Presentational Writing

Presentation writings that were done in Spanish 101 include, 3 Compositions that we completed of the course of the semester.

Doing the compositions allowed me to grow my vocabulary and was rewarding when I was finished to see how much I was able to write with the vocabulary we have learned. It was difficult sometimes to get the length of a half of a page, because I would have a mental block and not know what to write about. Writing these gave me confidence in writing in Spanish, and allowed me to learn how to write in full sentences and elaborate on what I was talking about. Each sentence I wrote, became easier because I learned to form other sentences bases on the one I had just written.

Spanish-CC

Above is an example of my first composition, where I talked about my classes, and what I do as a student.

Interpretive Listening

Some interpretive listening activities that I have completed this semester, are four Competencia Culturals. Also, in out virtual textbook, our weekly assignments include lessons in which I watch interactive videos to learn the content.

Then, write a short reflection paragraph that includes the different things you listened to/heard this semester inside and outside of class or in the Language Learning Center or its website. Find a recording and add to this section; be sure to cite it. What was unclear or challenging for you? How did you overcome this difficulty? What did you find most interesting or compelling? What was your takeaway from the listening experience? How have you grown with each activity?

The four Competencia Culturals included videos of people in their homes in Mexico and their day to day lives, and also what happens in major cities in Mexico, such as Mexico City. It was hard to follow them sometimes and be able to answer questions based off what they were saying, because they talk so fast and would say words that we did not learn the meaning of yet. To overcome this, I would rewatch the videos multiple times and listen to words surrounding words I did not to, in order to use context clues to understand what was happening. It was interesting to see in the videos how different, but also how similar those Spanish-speaking countries our to us in America. With each Competencia Cultural, I was able to get better and better at understanding what the people were talking about.

This video shows our final Competencia Cultural, in which the video talks about soccer in Spain.

Interpretive Reading

Some interpretive reading activities that I have completed this semester include the Lectura assignments we did from the textbook.

Then, write a short reflection paragraph that includes the activities you described above. What was unclear or challenging for you? How did you overcome this difficulty? What did you find most interesting or compelling? What was your takeaway from the reading? How have you grown with each assignment?

The lectura activities was based off a page in our textbook, where we would read it and then answer questions based on those readings. Some parts that were challenging about this, where when I did not understand some of the words in the text, and what they meant. To overcome this I was able to use context clues, based on other words and also by rereading the text multiple times. It was interesting to be able to read short bios about people, and it built my confidence up about my abilities with the Spanish language. Each assignment allows me to grow in confidence and in ability because I got more comfortable with the content and answering the questions and reading the text became easier.

Above is a picture from Lectura 4, in which we read the Guía, and answered questions.