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I chose to use my OPI Certificate as a reflection of my individual Interpersonal Skills in the target language as this document shows that I meet a high level of interpersonal proficiency in Spanish. To begin, I would like to state that I was able to maintain a fifteen-minute conversation with an ACTFL Scorer who was a native Spanish- Speaker from Mexico. The ACTFL Scorer gave me certified me as being an Advanced Low Speaker when it comes to being able to communicate with not just speakers of the target language, but also with native speakers that speak the target language. With this being said, this conversation demonstrates that I am able to produce grammatical structures with all of the time frames that exists within the Spanish Language. As a result, I am able to combine different grammatical tense together such as the Present, Past, Present, Future, and the Subjunctive to be able to narrate and describe a variety of different events. Additionally, this certificate shows that I am able to generate and or invent answers to both hypothetical questions and hypothetical situations as I was given multiple scenarios where I had to think of an answer and/or a solution without prior preparation. For example, the ACTFL Scorer had asked me the following hypothetical question: What would I do if I was offered both a teaching job in Mexico or the United States? She wanted me to think on my feet to describe how I would handle this situation. Also, she gave me the following hypothetical situation: A friend had let me borrow a book, but now that friend needs that book back, but you have lost the book. What would I do? For this hypothetical situation, we actually did a role play where she pushed me to see how well I could manipulate the various grammatical tense within her native language.

Furthermore, I was able to produce cross-cultural comparisons and differences as the ACTFL Scorer gave me the opportunity to elaborate about my Study Abroad Experience in further detail. Thus, I was proposing and defending these similarities and differences based upon being an aspiring Foreign Language Educator and a Server at a Mexican Restaurant with the role of Educators and Servers in the Spanish Level. As a consequence of this cultural aspect of this conversation, I demonstrated that I was able to compile multiple elements together in regards to both the target culture and the target language which exhibits my ability to construct a meaningful and coherent oral response that demonstrated my understanding of both target languages and cultures. I feel that is it important to add that this documentation is a reflection of my ability to use numerous communicative tasks within the target language in both the educational and real-life situations. This component is extremely important as I aspire to be an active communicator in the classroom environment and in the Hispanic Community. Most importantly, my OPI Certification is a contribution to my own personal goal of linguistic proficiency as it reveals to the reader that my communicative skills, not only give me the opportunity to talk to non-native speakers, but also non-native speakers as well. Although, this depicts a high-level of interpersonal proficiency the document goes into detail explaining that I am still able to grow a foreign language speaker with further elaboration and explanation so that I am able to work towards falling under the Superior Category. Thus, showing that there is room for me to further perfect my oral skills in the target language.

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For the Interpretive portion of this standard, I chose to use my OPI Certification and one of my written exams which dealt with a literary and cultural interpretation of a short story. My OPI Certification shows that I meet a high level of interpretative proficiency as I was able to construct meaning from an oral message so that I was able to appropriately respond to what was being said to me. During this conversation, the ACTFL Scorer used a lot of Mexican Phrases that I picked up on right away. When, I brought this to her attention, she asked me if I could put a few into proper sentences given that a lot of them did not translate word for word as they were written given their use figuratively. By demonstrating the meaning of these idioms in both a literal and figurative way, I was able to break down the different components within a specific area of the target language into different sections. Ultimately, I was able to determine the relationship of these words with one another which helped me successfully interpret not just their meaning, but their overall grammatical structure and purpose. Also, I feel that this documentation reflects my ability to listen to vocabulary that is used in certain regions and be able to make sense of it- all though it is not something that is commonly used by other Native Spanish-Speakers. For example, she used the word “chamarra” instead of “chaqueta” for the word jacket and the word “pluma” instead of the word “bolígrafo” for the word pen as she knew that I would be able to make meaning of these words given my ability to distinguish between the different word variations.

Additionally, I chose to use a Literary and Cultural Written Exam as a demonstration of my Interpretative Skills regarding the target language as I had to read the short story “Griselle” by Spanish Writer Juan Gómez Bárcena and analyze the main theme of the play by providing evidence from the text. Furthermore, I had to come up with a subtheme based upon the theme that I presented as the main theme with textual evidence as well. In my opinion, this written assessment reflects my Interpretative Skills within the target language as I demonstrated that I was able to evaluate a text by making judgements based upon the actions of the characters in the story. In addition, this evaluation included a justification component to truly show that I had fully comprehended the text that I had read.  It is important to mention that this assessment showed that I was able to make cultural connections with the text and the Spanish Gender Roles and Mentalities in the past due to my prior knowledge on the content area. Thus, I was able to take my comprehension to another level as I not only was making meaning of what was being said in the text, but establishing connections that I was able to use as additional support-in addition to the textual evidence.

Both of these documents are a contribution to my ongoing pursuit of linguistic proficiency as they both show that I am not just content with understanding the literal meanings of words, phrase, idioms, or texts as I always strive to take my comprehension one step further by making connections and using certain Mexican Phrases to better understand the target language in both a figurative and literal way. Thus, improving my overall pedagogical skills.

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In my opinion, my WPT Certification and my Video Recorded Presentation Assessment are a good reflection of my written and oral Presentational Skills. My WPT Certification affirms that I can incorporate all of the major time frames and grammatical structures into my writing. This certification also shows the range of my vocabulary and that for the most part all my words were used in the appropriate manner. It is important to note that this certification proves that I high-level of presentational written proficiency as I am my writing is able to be understood by Native-Spanish Speakers that are not used to encountering the written works of Non-Native Spanish-Speaker. Furthermore, I feel that it is important to add that my taking the WPT written exam I had the ability to invent innovative ideas based on a story that already existed which gave me the opportunity to a whole new level. Also, I would like to add that my WPT Certification shows that I am able to reconstruct a new point or view or perspective on a given topic-theme as I had to come up with a unique perspective on how to analyze the life and works of the Puerto Rican Actress Rita Moreno without turning towards the typical stereotypes of Hispanic Actor and Actresses that have been created by our society. As a result, I was able to rewrite how she is viewed by her audience by rewriting a new perspective on the talents of Moreno.

My Video Recorded Presentation Assessment shows that I am able to provide an oral analysis on a very controversial topic while still maintaining a good grammatical structure. I feel that this reflects my skills as a Spanish Speaker as my linguistic skills to not create limitations when it comes to discussing cultural topics that are still problematic in today’s world. In this Video Recording, I discussed the role of the Catholic Church in the mistreatment of the indigenous tribes. This was something where I was tapping into my own faith, but it did not impact my analysis as no one has the ability to change what has already occurred. Thus, I was able to prepare and produce an oral analysis without letting this take ahold of me on a personal level which shows that I am able to use the information that I had learned during the time leading up to the exam in a hew way which enlightened me not only as a language learner, but also as a person. This particular artifact shows that I can meet a high-level of oral presentational skills as I had the opportunity to explain the ideas and concepts that I had learned in further detail, by talking about the texts as evidence to back up the judgements I made during the video recording.

In conclusion, I feel that both my WPT Certification and my Video Recording Assessment reveal my ability to continue my linguistic and written proficiency in the target language as they show my constant efforts to improve not just my pedagogical development as a future foreign language educator, but my professional development within the profession and as an individual.

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When it comes to my ability to demonstrate my cultural understanding between different perspectives within the target culture I feel that my essay analysis of the dynamics of the Mexican Family and my PowerPoint Presentation about Mexico’s History since 1940 are a true reflection of my ability to connect perspectives and practices within the diverse target culture. I chose my essay of where I discussed in further detail the various components and roles of the members that makeup the Mexican Family as it shows my ability to create a new insight regarding the distinct roles that are carried out by the different members of this particular family unit. Thus, giving me the opportunity to reorganize elements that have already been pieced together so that I am able to enlighten my reader that the stereotypes of this family unit do not convey the Mexican Family with the respect it deserves as each member possess a crucial role. I explain in my paper that although the father, is believed to be the head of the family by many, the mother within the Mexican Family plays a huge role as an authoritative figure within this family unit. This does not mean that the father does not play an essential role, it only means that the both parental figures play an equal role in the development of their children. As a result, I am able to produce an understanding of the relationships between the members of the Mexican Family and the practices which make that distinguishes this family unit from other Spanish-Speaking families. The connection that is shown is that the outsiders perspective of the Mexican Family does not paint a vivid picture of the components that make up this family.

Additionally, I chose my PowerPoint Presentation for this standard as I was able to present the past historical events that have lead to where Mexico stands politically in today’s world. I feel that this is important to demonstrating relationships and perspectives cross-culturally as I was able to link together various historical events and explain how these events have affected the decisions that this particular Spanish-Speaking Country has made both in the past and present. Thus, allowing me to apply my prior knowledge to establish connections with the knowledge that I have recently acquired as a foreign language learner. This particular artifact conveys comparisons between cultures as it allows you to see the impact that Mexico’s past has on the relationships that it has established with other Spanish-Speaking Countries and other Non-Speaking Spanish Countries through the ups and downs revealed in my presentation. As a result, I was able to portray my understanding of the crucial role that the culture framework plays as it impacts every relationship that not only the individual, but the country establishes with another individual and or country that has a different cultural framework.

To resume this reflection, I feel that it is important to include these documents as a reflection of meeting this cultural standard as it shows that I am not only desiring to make linguistic connections, but cultural ones to help me learn about how the target language is used to express the target culture which ultimately helps me grow as an individual.

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Ensayo - La familia en América Latina (1)

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Understanding the importance of the changing nature of language even within different dialects within the same language is an essential component when it comes to having the ability to properly teach the target culture to students. With this being said, I chose my Presentation about the variations of Spanish that are spoken within Colombia and my ThingLink Project where I combined different dialectal variations among different native Spanish-Speakers and different Non-Native Spanish Speakers that have learned Spanish either as children or as adults. I feel that my Colombia Presentation shows the amount of linguistic diversity that can be found within the same country as it shows the dialectal differences between the capital of this country with Sincelejo with the use of visual audio recordings of Native Speakers from those perspective cities. Additionally, this Presentation includes Phonetic Transcriptions of what is being said in the visual audio recording which highlights what linguistic characteristics can be heard in these recordings. Thus, giving me the opportunity to demonstrate my ability to compare and contrast language systems within the same country. This artifact shows my knowledge of the linguistic system that can be heard when hearing the Colombian Accent as I am not only able to elaborate more on this accent, but that I am also able to identify it when it is being spoken.

I chose my ThingLink Project as it demonstrates my ability to compare interactions with Native Spanish Speakers and Non-Native Spanish Speaker through the use of texts, music, and interviews. As a result, I used this project to explain orally to my instructor and peers that Native Spanish Speakers can be distinguished through their accent which is evident when the target language is both spoken and or sung. As a result, I was able to propose that even us as Non-Native Spanish Speakers have the ability to figure out where Native Spanish Speakers are from based upon not only their pronunciations of certain letters, vowels, and consonants, but also due to the vocabulary that is used. Due to this portrayal of differences, I was able to depict both my cultural and linguistic knowledge by emphasizing the importance of the ever-changing linguistic system in different countries. It is important to note that I discussed the linguistic variations of individuals who have learned Spanish as either their Second Language or as their Foreign Language as certain traits can helps us distinguish these individuals’ origins.

Overall, both of these artifacts demonstrate my ability to continuing to increase my linguistic knowledge as I convey its importance when it comes to acquiring another language in the works that I have described above.

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Presentación sobre el acento de Colombia

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Los varios acentos de los países de habla hispana by Brianna Vinas

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TOUCH this image to discover its story. Image tagging powered by ThingLink

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When a student is immersing themselves in the language learning process, it is important that they are able to understand the importance of literary and cultural themes. With this being said, I have chosen an essay where I analyze two Puerto Rican Short Stories and an essay where I analyze the importance of the indigenous cultural theme in the study of the Spanish Language. My analysis of the two stories allowed me to show the struggles that where faced by the Jíbara Population. Thus, giving me the opportunity to formulate my own opinions based upon the struggles that were faced by this low-class farmer population with textual evidence and evidence from additional articles that supported my thoughts and opinions. As a result, this writing assignment allowed me to reconstruct the view of the Jíbara Culture through the eyes of someone who has never faced the struggles that they had to face. As a consequence, I was able to use textual evidence and the cultural themes that were often presented in Puerto Rican Literature. This artifact demonstrates my literary understanding of the Puerto Rican Culture of those who often struggled on a daily basis to survive.

My essay on the Taíno Culture reflects my ability to depict the influence of the indigenous culture as a significant cultural theme which is often presented in texts regarding the target culture. Thus, allowing me to demonstrate my understanding of cultural texts as numerous cultural texts shows us that so much of the Hispanic Culture is derived from how the indigenous people used to live their live. As a result, I am able to make connections between both the past and present Hispanic Culture through cultural texts.   Thus, allowing me to put both past and present cultural elements together to produce a better understanding of the Contemporary Hispanic Culture that is practiced in today’s world.

Both of these artifacts represent my constant pursuit to continue enhancing my cultural knowledge my analyzing literary texts about specific cultures and cultural themes which have impacted the growth and development of the Hispanic Culture as we know it.

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La evolución de la identidad cultural de los taínos  - Contem Hispanic Culture