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:
- Embedding a PDF
- Embedding Media (Images, Audio)
- Embedding a Video
Reflection
Overall, this class was a bit challenging. However, despite the obstacles, I feel as if I did slightly improve in my Spanish.
To begin, taking a foreign language online is more difficult than expected. You are essentially teaching yourself. As with any foreign language, you are required to learn not only vocabulary but grammar as well. With Spanish, there are so many different rules and tenses, that it is hard to learn on your own.
Though I am still not fluent by any means, I can say that I know more Spanish now than I knew coming into this course. I surprised myself with how well I did with writing during the Compositions and Cultural Competencies. I am also pleasantly surprised at how well my partner and I did on our presentations. As far as visually seeing the growth in my scores, I stayed pretty neutral throughout the course. In fact, some of my scores even declined. I think this is due to the unorganization of the course further into the semester. In the beginning, everything seemed more readily available and as the semester went on, there was much confusion throughout the expectations and materials.
I don’t think I faced any individual challenges, it was more that the entire course was one large challenge itself. I say this because Spanish is tricky and the further ahead you go, the more difficult the content. I wouldn’t say that I overcame the challenges, but instead, I think I just continued to keep my head above water. I went under a few times, but I managed to stay above the water the majority of the time, nonetheless.
Exploring Culture
I think the most effective practice for me to comprehend the culture was the TalkAbroad. Being able to speak to a native-speaking individual was surreal and almost a reality check. It was surreal in that you have the opportunity to speak with someone who has a completely different background than you. Not only culturally, but also in their experiences and their family, and so on and so forth. You learn about their practices and traditions within their specific culture, which is very intriguing. It was also a reality check. Not in any way other than you realize how much you do not know. Hearing those individuals on the other end of the screen was shocking and made me rethink everything I had thought I knew. They obviously know way more than you do and their rate of speech is faster than most of us can easily comprehend. Thankfully, the speaker was understanding and patient.
After ending the call, I had a moment to reflect on not only my experience but also the possible experiences of the woman I spoke with. I began to think about my way of life and my culture. How, yes, I have been through some challenges, but their challenging moments could have possibly been worse. Some of the countries these speakers come from being stuck in poverty or socially and culturally not on the same level as America. Yet, despite those circumstances, they continue to embrace their culture and heritage and put it on display for all of those to witness.