Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Instructions

Exploring Culture

I feel that the assignment that helped me most with my cultural growth and speaking Spanish was the TalkAbroads. It made me have to speak in Spanish and feel confident in doing so. Also, I was able to learn about two different cultures other than in America.

With this I realized that the Hispanic culture is a very welcoming and loving community as a whole. They along with us in America are very family oriented in all that they do. It definitely challenged my worldview in realizing how many cultures there are and that I have barely got to see any of them. It made me want to learn more Spanish and be able to speak and understand it better. It takes lots of dedication and commitment to learn a new language and that it would help me in the long run. I definitely had a misconception of the idea that the Hispanic region/ culture is very poor and unhappy. But after being able to go to Columbia recently and from videos in class I realized that was wrong many are thriving and super joyful.

Engaging in Communities

It is very important that you learn and engage with your not only your own culture, but other cultures as well. It helps you to become a well-rounded person.

Below are some examples of descriptions:

Interpersonal Communication

In this course we had to do 2 TalkAboards. These are where we have a conversation with someone from around the world whom we never meet and just get to know each other speaking in Spanish only. We also had many discussion boards that had to be done. This was done by watching a video or reading a response and giving our views on it or answering simple questions. https://flipgrid.com/8285887b

https://canvas.odu.edu/courses/120865/discussion_topics/420857?module_item_id=3426631

I feel that the Talkabroads went very well. I was able to communicate more with the individuals I talked to then I would have thought I could. It was a little nerve wracking given I was talking with someone who didn’t know English at all, and I am not very good at Spanish. But it all worked out. I thought it was really neat to be able to talk with these people and learn about their cultures and how they do things. As for the discussion boards I feel each time I did one it got better, and my responses were longer and more in depth.

Presentational Speaking

I did do some Spanish speaking outside of this class, as I went on a week-long mission trip with my church to Columbia. We also were required to do and respond to peoples Flipgrid’s and answer their question in Spanish. https://flipgrid.com/452b41be

When introducing myself I feel that I did that very well with confidence. But when it came time to record a Flipgrid filling in certain parts of a conversation with my professor it was a little difficult. I think what I would have done differently was practice with another individual before recording instead of just practicing on my own. Otherwise, I feel that I did pretty well on this part.

Presentational Writing

We had to read lots of articles or blogs and then respond to the questions given or what we thought of the videos/ articles. All of this was done through discussion boards. https://canvas.odu.edu/courses/120865/discussion_topics/420858?module_item_id=3426603

I do feel that with these assignments I did grow. As my writing seemed to be better than the beginning and I tried to incorporate more of the vocabulary we learned throughout the course. Writing in Spanish is definitely not a strong point of mine as I would much rather speak it. But I tried my best as it was about our family which made it a little easier.

Interpretive Listening

I completed many this semester but here is an example of one. It was a flipgrid where we had to fill in the blanks according to a pre-recorded conversation with our teacher. https://flipgrid.com/a929ae68

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?

Interpretive Reading

We read lots of articles in Spanish this semester and had to respond to them or even write what we liked best about it. In lingrolearning we had to compare different articles in Spanish and English. Also, we had to watch videos in Spanish learning different vocab words and how to pronounce them.

Some of things were discussion boards that we analyzed a specific video or article that was given. Other times we had to do things through lingrolearning. Topic: DB 8: Mis comidas favoritas (odu.edu)