Page 21 - Foundations of Learning, 4th Edition (Revised)

Dissecting a Performance

In order to identify the different components of performance, we need to isolate a
performance. Fortunately, we have Jennifer, whose goal is to become fluent in Spanish
and work as a journalist on a Spanish-language publication.

Let’s examine her performance as a student striving to meet this goal...

Jennifer’s Jenn has decided to become a reporter for the student newspaper, so that she can
Identity begin to learn what journalists do on a day-to-day basis. She is also looking forward to
the workshops journalists from local papers give for the college newspaper staff every
month. When she has established a comfortable schedule, Jenn would like to volunteer
at a local Spanish-language newspaper written by middle and high school students, La
Voz Latina (The Latin Voice).

Jennifer’s Although Jennifer has studied Spanish for many years, she has not lived near to any large
Learning community of Spanish speakers. Her perceptions of individual cultures come from read-
ing and the few Spanish speaking friends she has, mainly from Mexico. Now that Jenn
Skills has joined the Spanish-language lunch group on campus, she can meet students from all
over: Spain, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Argentina, and Puerto Rico. She has begun to observe and
appreciate the cultural differences among these students, including the use of idioms,
the sense of personal space, and general world views. Jenn notes down her perceptions
once a week, and checks them against the next week’s interactions.

Jennifer’s Jennifer now realizes that becoming a successful journalist means that she has a good
Knowledge deal to learn about the cultures, journalistic practices, history, and contemporary issues of
the Spanish-speaking world. She is enrolled in a class on Current Issues in Latin America,
and the instructor has an assignment on reading Latin American newspapers, either in
Spanish or in English. Jenn is putting her new knowledge of current affairs to good use
with her Spanish-language lunch group; the lunch group is always happy to share their
opinions on these issues.

Jennifer’s When Jenn does her newspaper assignment for class, she also tries to analyze the dif-
Context ferences in writing style and use of sources between an American and a Latin American
newspaper. This is more challenging than she thought it would be, but it strengthens her
plan to work on a Spanish-language newspaper here in town. Jenn is now more aware
of the different contexts she has worked in as journalist: the school yearbook and the
college newspaper. Working on a local paper seems to be the next step, and then, maybe
writing articles in Spanish.

Jennifer’s Jenn has a good roommate, but she still finds it hard to study Spanish at home because
Personal their space is so small. She often goes to the library or the language lab. Although she
Factors worked and saved money over the summer, Jenn is considering getting a part-time job
during the semester. She is debating whether a better budget or a job would be the
smartest way to have a little extra money and still succeed at her academic goals.

Jennifer’s As a native English speaker, Jenn will always have that as her language base. She may
Fixed always have a bit of an American accent in Spanish. However, Jenn has a good ear for
Factors languages, and that has helped her Spanish pronunciation. She does not have a good
sense of rhythm, though. She has realized she will probably never be a world-class Latin
dancer, though going to dances will be part of fitting into Latino culture.

Chapter 1 — Improving Performance 15