Browsing by Author "Wynne, Steven"

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    An Intellectual Revolution
    (Oakland University, 2016-01-01) Wynne, Steven; Clason, Christopher; Garfinkle, David
    Classical teachings of Aristotle instigated an academic revolution against the Catholic Church and the established Christian doctrine. Between 1210 and 1277, the Bishops of Paris ordered three official condemnations of the Uni­versity of Paris. They declared notable scholars heretics and besmirched the university’s newfound thoughts on the nature, form, and existence of God. Considering this discourse, this paper shall make known that the years between the fifth and fifteenth centuries, the so­ called “Dark Ages”, were not devoid of philosophical conversation. These condemnations were, in fact, a response to a larger intellectual revival in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Twelfth Century Renaissance.
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    Listening Comprehension and Instructor Input in American and Gymnasium Foreign Language Classrooms
    (2014-07-15) Wynne, Steven; Clason, Christopher
    The issue this paper addresses is the difference in foreign language learning between American and German novice-level secondary classrooms; specifically, this investigation first observes the instructor’s spoken foreign language in the classroom, which will entail identifying the amount, complexity, and variation of the target language in the instructor’s speech. This study then evaluates the influence of the instructor’s spoken language by assessing the listening comprehension skills of the students through dictation exercises, which shall include appropriate vocabulary and grammar the students have learned based on researcher’s observations and the assigned language textbook. With these observations and evaluation of German and American secondary school classrooms, I shall identify the differences between the instructors’ use of authentic foreign language in the classroom, as well as the listening comprehension ability of the students. Establishing the differences in foreign language use and its effect on the student listening ability, I shall suggest relevant improvements to the corresponding classrooms regarding enhancing listening competency.