Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Interpersonal Communication

Over this course of the semester I was given multiple opportunities in the classroom setting and on my own time to engage in my target language and further my verbal communication skills in Spanish. In the classroom space, my fellow students and I regularly practiced communicating in Spanish. Two times this semester I used Talkabroad to practice conversing about topics we were learning in class.

You can listen to one of my talkabroad conversations here.

In the first few weeks of class, while we were reviewing material from Spanish 101, I found solely Spanish communication in the classroom to be an easy task. As we began to cover completely unfamiliar or topics I had not covered since high school, I found myself beginning to struggle and require more time with the vocabulary or grammar lessons before I was able to fully speak Spanish in the classroom. Even then, some thoughts were always easier to communicate in English.

In my first Talkabroad, I really struggled to understand my partner on the first try, I relied a lot on visual cues from hand motions or facial expressions. She often had to prompt me by giving an example reply to her questions, but once I had context, I was able to easily express my thoughts in response. By my second conversation I was much more prepared and comfortable with filler Spanish words, which I made sure to brush up on right beforehand, so my conversation felt much more natural. I only had to ask my partner to repeat a question once, and there were very few moments where one of us was not speaking. I felt I had learned a lot from my previous conversation and I was able to implement that to make the second one much smoother.

Presentational Speaking

Throughout this semester I completed multiple projects which were modes of presentational communication in Spanish. One of those assignments required me to create a video presentation of myself cooking a dish and describing how I completed the process step by step. Below is that project.

Then, in a paragraph, write a reflection that includes each presentation you completed in which you explain what challenged you and how you grew and overcame those challenges.  What did you excel at? What/how would you do differently next time? 

In my first project, presenting and describing members of my family, I struggled to speak naturally in Spanish. I had to consistently pause my recording when I didn’t know what to say next or I would automatically use English filler words. However, without any filler words, my delivery felt stiff and over-scripted. By the time I reached my second presentational project, I had learned and had the opportunity to practice with Spanish filler words and natural sentence structuring. I was much better at communication on the fly without a script than I had been during the first project. I feel I did very well in making my presentation feel natural.

Presentational Writing

I created two presentational writing projects this semester. One was a flyer for a sports club of my choosing and the other a pamphlet describing and offering suggestions to help with a mental or physical ailment of my choosing. The second project is displayed below.

Manaje-Problemas-de-Ira

In the first project, I chose to create a flyer for rollerskating, an activity I quite enjoy. I was to describe the sport, give meeting times and locations, list health benefits of the sport. I enjoyed the creation of the visual elements of the project, but I struggled with meeting the word count and properly using reflexive verbs. I would accidentally leave a reflexive verb as its stem form rather than conjugating it. However, with feedback from my instructor and research of my own I was able to correct my mistakes and learn how to proficiently use them for the future.

In the second project, I was much more prepared to reach the word count and I was able use any required reflexive verbs with ease. I excelled at using the imperative form of verbs and phrases. One place I struggled was using directly translated common English phrases which wouldn’t make sense to a Spanish speaker. I overcame this by running phrases by my professor and researching common Spanish phrases I could use in their place.

Interpretive Listening

During this semester I had multiple assignments that required me to rely on interpretive listening alone to complete them. At the end of each unit we would have a conversation assignment where we would have a simulated conversation with a Spanish speaker by responding to prerecorded messages.

At the beginning of the semester, I really struggled with translating and understanding Spanish that I heard rather than read. This continued to be a struggle through most of the semester, but with each conversation assignment, I noticed the task becoming easier. I still am not perfect and interpreting just audio alone without any visual cues in the form of graphics, action, or facial expressions, but I know that I have progressed greatly since the start of the semester.

Interpretive Reading

There were a few article or stories included with our lessons over the semester, and some that we were required to find on our own for research. From the beginning of the semester, I was very confident in my reading abilities in Spanish. I did not run into many issues until the end of the semester. Even then, with a little time, and breaking paragraphs down into smaller sections I was able to understand the majority of a text without needing to translate any of it or look up words.

Here is a link to one of the articles I read this semester. LINK

I challenged myself to do a portion of my research in Spanish for my final project. I created a pamphlet about Managing Anger Issues and I used a page from the Mayo Clinic in Spanish for advice to use in my project. At first, looking at it as a whole, the format gave me some trouble as I was used to reading full sentences and not bullet points. Without context, some unfamiliar words gave me trouble, but once I broke it down or scanned the text for familiar phrases, I was able to go back in and understand what I had missed before.