Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication
Exploring Culture
In Spanish 102 the course dove a little deeper into Spanish language cultures. There were numerous activities that helped me gain an understanding of the culture and the norms. Some of the activities were: differences in families, the healthcare system and types of activities in the Hispanic culture.
Exploring the Hispanic culture in this course was a compelling experience. We as a class got to read and listen to how Hispanic culture experienced their day-to-day life. Learning in the discussion boards and on Lingro Learning better helped me understand the values and attitudes in the Hispanic culture. For example, in the Hispanic culture they are all about family and working together. They take pride in building and raising their families. They are inclusive in ways that have inspired me to be with my family. Seeing how Hispanic cultures interact with their family members has changed my perspective for the better.
Engaging in Communities
Engaging in the Hispanic culture is an important piece in when learning the Spanish culture. It is important to socialize with classmates or even people that speak the language to practice speaking and learning more about the community.
My experience in engaging in Hispanic communities stared before I took the course. Growing up I lived in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, so majority of my childhood friends were Hispanic. I would go with them to parties, and social gatherings that caused me to want to understand the language.
Interpersonal Communication
This semester we were introduced to a new form of communication which was through an application called TalkAbroad. This is a forum that allowed us to connect with native Spanish speakers and to have a conversation. We also communicated in other ways like conversations with our professor and conversations with other classmates. These have played a vital role in my expansion of vocabulary usage and becoming a confident speaker.
Using the TalkAborad forum was beneficial in ways I didn’t think it would be. When I was first introduced to the assignment, I had worries about how the native speaker would view me and my abilities to speak the language. I also worried about being able to hold a 15-minute conversation. During the first conversation talking about families, I instantly felt a relieve as I began to talk. I was able to ask and guide the conversation based on my vocab. During the second conversation I felt it was a bit more challenging because the topic was broad, and I felt like my vocabulary limited my abilities to say more.
Having conversations with my classmates and professors were also another important piece and me becoming more confident in speaking Spanish. During the beginning of the semester, I always felt like it was hard for me to hold conversations for a long period of time. Throughout the semester and the more conversations, I had I was finally able to say more and speak for a longer period. Now in spontaneous conversations like at my workplace, I can engage in conversations with my Spanish speaking clients. Some things that I can work on is lengthening my responses and trying to say more.
Presentational Speaking
There were plenty of opportunities to speak in the Span 102 course. Some of the activities that involved using the Spanish language was having conversations with Spanish partners who are also classmates. Another way presentational speaking was the use of Spanish articles.
Two Speaking presentations I completed this semester was the conversations with my assigned Spanish partner. The second one was the discussion boards explaining our views and opinions on the Hispanic articles that were assigned for us to read. One challenge that I had was meeting with the student and making sure our schedule’s matched up, so we could complete the assignment. Other than that, there were no other issues. I felt like as time progressed, I felt more and more confident in speaking and sharing. I felt I excelled at asking adequate questions to keep the conversation going.
Presentational Writing
In Spanish 102 there were opportunities to utilize presentational writings. After each module we were instructed to complete a project about that module. Majority of the times we were tasked to complete a video recording of our presentation.
This semester I created about 3-4 writing presentations. One was about the types of classes I take for my major and what is my desired career path. Another presentation piece that I will include is a flyer I created about ways to stay healthy during this current pandemic. One thing that challenged me was my vocabulary and making sure I used the correct grammar when constructing the parts of the pamphlet. I overcame this challenge by constructing a rough draft first and going back into learning materials to make sure I was saying the right things. I was able to excel at creating the outline and making the piece interesting to look at.
Interpretive Listening
Interpretive listening was used greatly during this semester. We spent time listening to the material In Lingro Learning and then we were assigned videos during our discussion board.
One thing that I listened to this semester was the video on gender stereotypes within the learning and working environment. There were a few things that were unclear to me watching the video. One was some of the occupations the children were talking about and then some of their word choices I had a hard time translating it. I overcame this difficulty by rewatching the video using subtitles and it became clearer. I always have felt like I could understand Spanish better than I could speak it. That has always been one of my strengths throughout the two semesters of taking Spanish.
Interpretive Reading
There were multiple pieces that we were instructed to read this semester. An Interpretive mode of communication that we used was a one-way communication, an example of reading is the reading of an article.
The article about healthcare in the Hispanic community was clear because it was written in English. Unlike other readings that are written in Spanish, it can be unclear and challenging. For the ones that are challenging I use context clues and somewhat skim through like I was taught in Lingro Learning. I excelled because I was okay with the fact that I wasn’t going to understand every word that is written in Spanish.
