After reviewing my presentation of my learning plan, I realized that a lot has changed since the beginning of the semester. I had a very ambitious plan set forward, but unfortunately I have not been able to achieve all of the goals I set forth. As I talked about in my last discussion post, I have been struggling with committing the phrases and vocabulary I’ve learned to my long term, active memory. Moreover, while my goals originally centered around my own ability to speak the language, I have once again fallen into the unfortunate position of being able to comprehend written language and spoken word but struggling to find my own voice in Ukrainian. The class discussions have definitely helped me in learning the language, especially discussions about articulatory phonetics, as I have an easier time identifying exactly why certain words are difficult for me to pronounce. Moreover, discussions about the power of music and melody have been helpful in creating new goals for myself that use music as a mechanism for learning new vocabulary and pronunciations.
From what I understand so far, Ukrainian language is infused with modern and ancient cultures alike. In the context of the Russian-Ukrainian War, the Ukrainian language is experiencing a major shift in terms of who it is spoken by and how it is spoken. These changes always lead to interesting discussions with my language partner. Many Ukrainians view the Ukrainian language as an expression of national identity.
In order to improve my communicative competence, I need to shift focus to personal and heuristic functional use of the language. I think I have been working mostly on representational function, or the ability to describe things and say them as fact. However, by emphasizing personal function, I may insert myself into the language and find my own identity by expressing feelings, emotions, and authentic reactions. In order to do this, I must engage in more casual dialogues with my language partner. Moreover, the heuristic function will allow me to open myself up to the world of learning in Ukrainian. I need to learn how to ask meaningful and creative questions in order to engage in more interesting and lasting dialogues.