Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Interpersonal Communication

TalkAbroad is an opportunity for students to experience authentic immersive conversations, and hone their interpersonal speaking skills. Though due to scheduling issues I was unable to complete them this semester, I have in the past and they are extremely beneficial. In class, my classmates and I would practice conversing together, based on the prompts our professor would provide. Additionally, a project focused on the differences between in person and online conversations allowed me to practice technological communication conventions. Outside of the classroom, I practice interacting with and responding to my friends conversationally in Spanish, occasionally texting with Spanish-speaking friends in their native language. At the end of the semester, I was able to engage in an immersive conversation with my professor, about various life topics and hypotheticals.

In past semesters, tele-collaborative conversations have helped me to practice and familiarize myself with conversational Spanish. They also allowed me to pinpoint weak areas in my skills, so I could focus on where I needed practice most. My interpersonal communication skills in Spanish are stronger when writing, so speaking assignments are more difficult, though they help be combat that weakness. Throughout this semester, I have heavily focused on improving my ability to think in Spanish while engaging in interpersonal communication. I identified this as my main barrier to really seeing improvement in my Spanish conversational skills, as my mind would jump to words I could not translate. I noticed upon completion of the speaking portion of the Final Exam, that I felt much more comfortable conversationally, due to the skillset I had been working on. Thus, by utilizing Spanish conversations with my classmates and friends as an opportunity to practice thinking in the language I am communicating in, I have begun improving my approach to interpersonal communication. Additionally, the practice and use of texting conventions in Spanish-speaking cultures aided me in elevating the digital communication practice I seek out with my friends.

Presentational Speaking

Throughout this duration of this semester, I completed multiple presentations immersively in Spanish. These spanned multiple topics and methods, and allowed me to practice under many topics. I completed presentations concerning a review of an ecological site, historical art and fiction analyses, and an acted conversation.

As I developed these projects, I was given the opportunity to expand my skills at different forms of presentation. In the process of creating each, I was able to really see what my strengths and weaknesses were when presenting in Spanish. For me, pronunciation and immersive preparation were the aspects I found myself to be best at. In terms of what needed improvement, my experiences putting together projects throughout this semester revealed that I struggle most with public speaking in Spanish. I have a very hard time memorizing Spanish and thus repeating information for a presentation is difficult. As I practice thinking in Spanish, I will improve aspects of presentational abilities, working my way to presenting without a script.