SPAN 102

Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

The biggest practice in this course that helped me gain a better understanding of different cultures was the cultural exploration section at the end of each module in LingroLearning. These sections made you do some type of research related to whatever section we were studying at the time. One example that stood out to me was researching about marriage inequality in various countries. Given what we have in our country currently, with gay marriage being federally legal, it is different to think that we are actually fairly progressive in that manner. Many Latin-American countries, and countries across the world are still behind on that manner. We often hear too much of our country not being very progressive, but comparatively in some manners, gay marriage being one of them, we are actually farther along than we think.

Engaging in Communities

Engaging in your community can come in many different forms. I myself enjoy doing CrossFit competitions throughout the Hampton Roads area. These engagements allow me each time to meet new people, experience new places, and network with new groups each and every time. Here I have a photo of myself competing in a competition at CrossFit Rife down in Virginia Beach. Here I met up and competed on a team of three with someone I have competed with before, and someone who I never have been on a team with. I also got to meet quite a few new people at CrossFit Rife, and now have some more people to meet up with and train with. These relationships I hope to develop more and more over time. I cannot count how many people I have met through the gym that have become friends that I have helped out when they are in need and vice versa.

Interpersonal Communication

This semester we participated in a few TalkAbroad conversations. In these conversations, we had to express and describe different traits both about ourselves, and about other individuals in our lives, all in Spanish. We had to converse these thoughts with a random person we chose through the TalkAbroad website, and then ask questions to them as well. We had discussion boards in both English and Spanish, where we got to describe different aspects of our lives based on prompts from the professor.

I feel the TalkAbroad conversations where the most helpful for this class. They were difficult in trying to memorize what you wanted to say first during the conversation, as reading from a script was not allowed. It involved quite a bit of practice beforehand. I felt my pronunciation got better as the class developed. There are quite a few words and sounds that we do not use in the English language. I found that challenging, especially with an online class. I felt as if we did not get quite the same exposure as if we were speaking and talking in an actual classroom setting. However I did learn by using some of the resources provided through Canvas, and using the practice sections on LingoLearning to help listen to as much of the Spanish vocabulary as possible. For the discussion board piece, we had a prompt for every module, so a total of 5. Each piece involved asking about various difference in our lives, all regarding to the topics being covered in the module. My favorite example was module 8, which asked us which food dish was our favorite. Not only did you get to describe your favorite dish and why, but then got to interact with other classmates and see what each person’s favorite dish was. Seeing these different cultures even from across the US was interesting. If I had to take this class or another foreign language class, I would definitely try to take it in person. That ability to immediately connect with other people in your class and develop those relationships is invaluable.

Presentational Speaking

A couple of the speaking activities we have done included the conversations on TalkAbroad that I discussed above. We also will have a virtual interview with our professor. We have yet to complete the last oral interview, and I am fairly nervous for it. The TalkAbroad conversations were challenging, as you had to really use the language in person, which we have not had much experience with being an online course. The only thing that would improve this would be practice, and seeking out those situations that require us to use the language more. If the TalkAbroad conversations were free to students, I would have multiple attempts at the conversations to get more practice in.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UPuGr-fOvKkdpg75uyxyYmlaQiRgkbWT/view?usp=sharing

Presentational Writing

This semester we completed quite a few discussion board posts where we had to answer a question or two in Spanish, and then expound upon that idea challenging some of our culture in English. We also through LingroLearning, were able to explore the various cultures of Spanish speaking countries. We would have to research different traits and customs of a particular country, and then present that information and reflect upon it. I enjoyed the research of different cultures, as I got to read about different aspects of culture that I would never have looked at on my own. As the class went on, I found it easier to read some articles in Spanish, even if I did not understand every word in an article, I would get the general consensus. I did not find anything about this piece particularly difficult, the only difficulty was choosing which country you were going to research each time. I felt I excelled at combing through the different articles and topic thoroughly, and finding one that genuinely interested me each time. Next time I feel I could spend hours researching if I had the time, exploring multiple different countries and cultures to compare the differences.

Interpretive Listening

This semester we had a few activities that involved listening to videos on YouTube. We also had to listen to many different recordings through LingroLearning and our quizzes and tests. Our vocabulary also had videos each week that allowed us to listen to the words in Spanish. Anything required to listen to the recordings and understand was challenging in this class. Again this is due to the lack of exposure from being an online class. If this was in person, and listening to Spanish everyday, I feel it would become a lot easier. I will admit the hardest part is noticing and trying to understand the different dialects. Given that Spanish is spoken all over the world, just like English, you get many different accents and dialects that are developed. However the more exposure is key. As the class went on, I felt as though my ear got better and better, and I could understand the speech faster and faster. I hope that more exposure will continue that trend.

Interpretive Reading

We read a few different articles in Spanish this semester. During some of our tests, we had articles about various topics that we had to translate, and then answer interpretive questions about said article. The challenging part about the articles we had to read were first the time limit. During the tests, we had limited time to answer the questions, so we had to quickly read and interpret the articles. I feel like I have grown in just my ability to read Spanish with each assignment, but gain more and more appreciation for other cultures with each assignment.