2017 English “Talent Cup” Public Speaking and Debating Contest

On April 25-26 Soochow University hosted the 2017 English “Talent Cup” Public Speaking and Debating Contest for College English Majors from Taipei and Shanghai. With students and coaching teachers coming from seven universities in Taiwan and five universities in Shanghai, the Contest meant to provide a platform for cultural exchange in language education, to display students’ English proficiency and oral expression in the form of speeches and debates.

Debates on stage, friends off stage

The English “Talent Cup” Contest initiated in 2016 by Fudan University in Shanghai was highly praised. In 2017 Soochow University took the turn to host the Contest.  According to An-chi Wang, Chair of English Department, speech and debate had been one of the major courses promoted for years in the Department, and this cross-strait contest allowed students to learn from each other. This year the theme was settled on “Language, Culture, Youth, Dream.” In the two-day contest all students strived hard on impromptu speeches and debates in two rounds, and they were rated in terms of their performance in four categories -- content, language, confidence, and expression.

Zhih-Hao Shen, representing Soochow University, said that the challenges in English speech and debate were different. Speech was a one-man-show, depending on one’s knowledge on the speech topic and one’s ability to express fluently in English. Debate was more of a team work, with three members working together to respond to the opponents’ challenges and anticipate their next movement in argument. During the intensive training process, he and his team fellows, Tzyy-chuan Shen and Ying-sheng Lin, had had disagreements at first before they finally reached mutual understanding and cooperation.

Loads of awards are taken home

After rounds of harsh and stimulating competition, National Taiwan University team took home the champion trophy, Fudan University and Fu Jen University ranked second and third respectively. Yi-Ming Hsieh, from National Taiwan University, said she had started a series of intensive training since last December and her winning the first place in speech contest was credited to her coaching teacher and team fellows.

Ze-Hui Qiu, from Fudan University, said this year’s event hosted by Soochow University was well-prepared and highly efficient in arranging all the scheduled activities. Li-An Lu, President of Taiwan Business Association in Shanghai, also praised the event for making breakthrough in setting up flexible and multi-dimensional topics that were close to the young generation’s life experiences and concerns.

In the closing ceremony and dinner, students and coaching teachers from the 12 universities exchanged heartfelt words and established close friendships. Department Chair An-Chi Wang, giving special thanks to all the participants and working staff, hoped to the heritage of ‘Talent Cup” Contest could be passed down to cultivate more students with language talent.