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:

Contrasena_Vocabulario_01-1

• Embedding a PDF
• Embedding Media (Images, Audio)
• Embedding a Video

Exploring Culture

In English, give a brief description of products and practices that helped you gain understanding of cultural perspectives. Remember not to make value judgments or comparisons of better/worse or right/wrong. Different is just different. You are talking about your growth of understanding.

The products that have helped me gain understanding of cultural perspectives was the lingro assignments and the one video for one of the discussion boards that had the Spanish holidays. I knew a little about the Spanish culture before this class but this class opened my eyes to a lot more culture then I had known. Even though the lingro assignments challenged me quiet a bit I learned a lot from them to have a basic foundation for learning Spanish. I really enjoyed learning the different cultures in this class and now I want to learn more about these different cultures.  

Then, in a short paragraph write your reflection. Some questions that may help you process your reflections are:

In what way did these products and practices help you better understand values and attitudes in the Hispanic culture as well as your own? How did these products and practices challenge your worldview? What challenges did these perspectives reveal to you? How did it cause you to work through a stereotype or misconception you had and cause you to view the world from a different perspective? Use specific examples.

These helped me because I was so used to my own language that to be honest I struggled with learning Spanish in this course but I am slowly getting better. They challenged me because it is hard learning a new language but now I have a better understanding of more than my own language where I feel most in my comfort zone speaking in. They revealed that I am not at all fluent in another language as I thought and I need to practice. I learned that you cannot rush learning and that it takes time to learn another language.  

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.

The value of engaging into your community is being able to see your hard work paying off in the world and it feels good. The importance of it is to huge because if people do not help their community the community might not help them. I love helping my community whether it is volunteering or getting my work done at my job.  

Interpersonal Communication

In English, give a very brief 3-4-line description of TalkAbroad and other interpersonal oral/audio activities, discussion board and other interpersonal writing/reading activities you completed this semester inside or outside of class for or related to your Spanish learning. (See Modes of Communication link for definition and examples).

The kinds of interpersonal activities I did this semester were the Flipgrid’s, the Spanish conversations with my teacher, the discussion boards, and the lingro recording assignment in each unit. For example the research on the countries in Lingro. What I also tried to do this semester is to try and fit in Duolingo but I could not really find time to do that but I might try again later when I am not that busy.  

Then, in a short paragraph or two, write a reflection that includes each type of the interpersonal (spontaneous, unplanned) communication activities: telecollaborative (TalkAbroad) conversations, discussion board posts, and any other interpersonal exchange.  Explain how you’ve grown with each assignment/activity. What was difficult and how did you overcome that difficulty? What did you excel at and why/how? What/how did you learn from it and would you do differently next time?

Some of the unplanned communication that I had to do were doing the Flipgrid’s even though they were planned but speaking in Spanish on camera was challenging. I have grown with these assignments and activities because they challenged me to be ready for them in the future. The difficult part of it was the long preparation to get them right because I am a very slow learner. I overcame that difficulty just by trying to get my thoughts down and not getting frustrated when I mess up which I am still trying to work on. For the most part I excelled with the discussion boards but I could tell the Flipgrid’s needed a little more practice than I was a lotting to them. What I would do differently is doing more practice and following though on my time management skills.    

Presentational Speaking

In English, give a brief 2-3-line description of any presentational speaking activities you completed this semester inside or outside of class for or related to your Spanish learning. Include a recording of one of these speaking activities. (See Modes of Communication link for description and examples).

Some of this activities would have to be the Flipgrid’s that we did this semester. My favorites are the getting to know you one and the favorite person one.

Then, in a paragraph, write a reflection that includes each presentation you completed in which you explain what challenged you and how you grew and overcame those challenges.  What did you excel at? What/how would you do differently next time? 

These Flipgrid’s for sure challenged me and tested my Spanish skills which I knew going in but I feel like I rushed the process and did not really take the time to really learn Spanish the best that I could have. The 2 Flipgrid’s I am really proud of and would do again if I had the chance. I don’t think for these video’s I would do anything different because they sound good to me but next time I would take it slower and practice it better.  

Presentational Writing

In English, give a very brief 2-3-line description of the presentational communication of compositions, pamphlets, blogs, flyers, stories, articles, and any other written presentation activities you completed this semester inside or outside of class for or related to your Spanish learning. Include a copy of a written presentational activity you produced? (See Modes of Communication link for description and examples).

The presentation that I liked and want to highlight is the Audio Assignment that we had to do in the beginning of the semester. This assignment helped me so much with sounding out the words and getting them into my head.  

Then, in a paragraph, write a reflection that includes each of the activities you described above in which you explain how you have grown with each assignment or activity. What became easier and what was difficult? How did you overcome the difficulties? What did you excel at and why? How could you do better next time?

What was easy was when I had the practice of saying the words they flowed of my tongue. The difficult part was getting the right sound or close to how Spanish speakers say the word. I overcame this by playing the audio clip and trying to say the word. After that I got some of the word right but with others I needed more practice when I was done recording. I could be better with more practice and I realize that now that I have taken a college level Spanish class.  

Interpretive Listening

In English, give a very brief 2-3-line description of interpretive listening activities you completed this semester for or related to your Spanish learning. (See Modes of Communication link for description and examples).

Some of the interpretive listening I had to do for this course was looking some university websites and gathering information about for a discussion board. This helped my understanding because now I know about some new Spanish universities that I never even knew existed so now I am really interested in looking more.

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?

I never found anything unclear about these websites but the option to change it to English or Spanish was very helpful in trying to understand what the website was saying. What I found the most interesting is UGR involves the whole community in their college sports and American schools do not do that. My takeaway from the listening experience is to just appreciate what other cultures have to offer even if it is something small. I am still improving but know I have a foundation and the learning basics of a new language that could help me in the future.  

Interpretive Reading

In English, give a very brief 2-3 line description of interpretive communication activities you read in and out of class this semester, such as articles, stories, websites like the Language Learning Center, etc. that you completed for or related to your Spanish learning. Include a copy of one of these activities; remember to cite it. (See Modes of Communication link for description and examples).

Another one of these that I would like to highlight is the Spanish holiday video that we had to look at for that discussion board. I learned so much from that video and it opened my eyes to new holidays that seemed fun and interesting to me.  

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?

When you have finished adding content to this page, delete all the instructions except the link to the Modes of Communication. Since the words were in Spanish it was unclear to me what the words actually meant but I fixed that by googling what they meant. What I found interesting was all of the holiday’s centered around religion which I found very inspirational. My takeaway from seeing this video was to try and respect other countries traditions or what activities are fun for them to celebrate. I grew with this assignment because I learned about other traditions and the culture of the Spanish speaking world.