Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Instructions

Exploring Culture

Some practices that helped me gain a better understanding of cultural perspectives were the ” Cultura ” assignments in Contrasena. They presented information ranging from how homo sexuality was accepted or if it was, to the social ” norms ” in their country as well as things they ate that contributed to their culture. These assignments provided me with a new way of thinking about different Hispanic cultures due to the difference of foods, morals, and rules that people from these different nationalities partake in.

The Cultura assignments paved a way into a new point of view of thinking about cultures and the access these countries had to certain things such as internet, education, sports, and marriage. In the past before learning about these different cultures, I assumed that many people in Hispanic countries did not have access to education, sports, or internet at all unless their family was considered rich. I then discovered that a lot of these countries can provide the same resources that there are in the United States. In reference to a shift in my perspective on Hispanic cultures, I also believed that homo sexuality as well as marriage was not acceptable in any of these countries. However, I soon gained knowledge that in Puerto Rico and Argentina homosexuality and marriage was legal. Although, it was not legal in other countries such as Cuba and Paraguay, I was able to correct my original thought on the matter.

Engaging in Communities

From my personal experience, contributing to your immediate community has a huge beneficial impact on the physical and mental health of others. When participating in activities or movements with those around you, you are able to self reflect and find relation to new individuals as well as gain understanding on parts of life that impact you or your community.

( did not do any assignments related to engaging in communities over the semester )

Interpersonal Communication.

During Spanish 102, I completed a series of assignments in which pushed me to use what I learned in class and apply it in my real life. In reference to oral/ audio activities some of these assignments included having two 15 minute 1 on 1 conversations with a qualified Spanish speaking individual, talking to my grandma who’s first language is Spanish, recording audios answering questions that were asked, recording myself explaining how to make something, and recording videos of myself talking about my family. In reference to my writing and reading activities I sent and read texts to my Spanish speaking grandma, and commented on my classmates projects.

During my first talkabroad conversation, I was nervous and felt as if I was going to be judged for my Spanish pronunciation and the variety of vocabulary that I knew. After the conversation was over I self reflected and realized that I was able to ask questions, and communicate while still being understood perfectly fine. When it was time for my 2nd talkabroad session, I was less nervous and knew what to expect but still had trouble trying to keep the conversation going. Although, I struggled with having wide vocabulary, and perfect pronunciation participating in talkabroads made me feel confident in being able to have conversations with Spanish speaking individuals. Another conversation that benefitted my Spanish was being able to speak to my grandma who only communicates in Spanish therefore, forcing me to talk to her back in Spanish which gave me the opportunity to learn new words, and phrases as well as have extra verbal practice with someone who I am comfortable with.

As a result of taking these chances to communicate in Spanish with other people, I have grown in the field of having confidence when communicating with people while using my second language. I did have severe difficulty in continuing conversations due to having low vocabulary which limited me to talk about certain topics however, I started to overcome this as each unit passed because I dedicated myself to learning more about the Spanish language. I was significantly intrigued in how far I came due to studying and memorizing my vocabulary. This had increased my vocab and helped me to maximize my conversations especially with my grandma as well as my other Spanish speaking family members. I took notice in the fact that I was able to understand everything she was saying without having to ask her to repeat or clarify it and I was able to keep the conversation going for more than usual and it made me feel more dedicated to my Spanish course.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mUKVO6a8c81dpS40fgL3YwA30PyfrxpN/view?usp=sharing

Presentational Speaking

During this semester I participated in presentational speaking by presenting information on my family members, their age, name, describing their characteristics and interest. Another way I participated in presentational speaking was when I completed projects in Contrasena, recording myself describe things such as my family, and how to make coffee step by step.

Presentations and recording myself presenting is a difficult task for me to do especially if in my 2nd language. I struggled a lot with trying to memorize what characteristics were attached to who, and how to say that my mom likes to go out dancing, as well as how to say all of my family members ages in Spanish. The week of this assignment I wrote out and then re read my notes on each family member over and over again and this helped me to remember characteristics and to know the meaning of what I’m saying due to the repetition of utilizing these words. When I had to describe how I made my morning coffee, one of the things that set me back was when I was required to use measurements to fully have my audience understand the amount of ingredients I was using and how to organize my sentences so that everything made sense. The night it was due I recorded my video about 20 times trying to make sure I included information such as ; What is it, why do you like it, what does it taste like, what do you need to make it, and how do you make it. At the end, I proudly included all the information in a format that made sense and that my audience could understand as well as make the coffee themselves.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mxJTuPReGo6hMp-taeL2aGAbgVZYu_E8/view?usp=sharing

Presentational Writing

While being enrolled in Spanish 102, I was required to complete certain assignments that allowed me to practice new vocabulary while testing my ability to use persuasive phrases, words of encouragement, and complete sentences. These assignments were the following ; infographic about a specific sport, and writing paragraphs using past and present tense.

When I started to write my infographic as well as paragraphs based off a sport / image it was difficult for me to use multiple transition words and to be able to figure out what to talk about next in order to persuade my audience that what I was saying was true. This issue happened more than once in my writing assignments and became easier for me to resolve whenever I gave myself the opportunity to brainstorm things I could say. When completing these assignments I was always efficient in using the correct verbs and providing details on the matter. I feel as, if given another opportunity to do these assignments again I could give myself more time to actually think about the multiple things I could say or talk about and I would excel in having creativity when it comes to writing paragraphs based off an image/ sport.

Interpretive Listening

While enrolled in Spanish 102, I was obligated to complete homework assignments in which forced me to listen to audios of people talk and I had to either respond in an audio recording or answer questions related to the audio. Another time where I was obligated to listen and come up with an answer or question based off of what I heard was when I was completing my talk abroad

The audio recordings in Contrasena were a milestone for me due to the fact that I would have to learn and study the vocab of each unit before I was able to understand each audio. It did help significantly that I was able to replay the audios and evaluate what was being said as well as think of what the answers could possibly be. For my Talk abroad it wasn’t so different ; The people who I talked to spoke the slightest bit quicker and If I needed it they would repeat what they said. I would agree with the idea that the most challenging thing I went through throughout these assignments was that I had to know what every word meant or whatever topic the person was talking about wouldn’t of made sense in my head. I soon got over this by realizing that I can either replay the audio, or ask the person to repeat or to explain what a word or sentence meant. By doing this I was able to gain reassurance in myself and expand my vocab due to getting clarification on what certain words meant and it will be helpful habit for later courses.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zq01JYoIo6ey_kYefPB6tuQ8P-9uCVXo/view?usp=sharing

Interpretive Reading

Some practices I did in Spanish 102 that helped my reading comprehensive skills were the Contrasena homework assignment readings that talked about health, events, etc. I would have to complete some kind of reading every week about whatever was being learnt throughout that unit.

In the practices I had to complete while taking Spanish 102, Reading was a huge portion of my learning experience due to the fact that in order to understand what each word meant you had to be able to see it and understand it when written in sentences, paragraphs, etc. The assignments I would complete that made me read were in the ” Aplicar ” tabs in Contrasena and I would usually start with reading the paragraph then either identifying multiple words in the text that fit into a subject or answer questions based off the paragraph. At times I struggled with knowing what was going on in the readings and other times it was a quick read and simple questions. I figured that going back to the vocab list and re studying their definitions in English would significantly change how many times I needed to re read the paragraph and seeing the vocab words applied in these readings definitely helped me to memorize them and their definitions depending on the surrounding text. This has taught me how to use my context clues when reading to figure out the main point, usage of the word, and tone every passage insinuates while being able to answer specific questions on the passage.

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