Grade 7: 2020 SHSID & ESHS Chinese Speech and Debate Competition-Shanghai High School International Division

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Grade 7: 2020 SHSID & ESHS Chinese Speech and Debate Competition

December 4, 2020

In order to increase the cooperation and communication with ESHS, the seventh graders of SHSID invited student representatives from ESHS and Ms. Liuliu, the famous writer, to join in the Chinese speech and debate competitions held in the lecture hall of Zhentao Building on the afternoon of December 2nd. Taking into account the needs of pandemic prevention and control, most students watched the competition via live broadcast.

Starting with the Chinese speech competition, ten students shared their reflection and thoughts about daily life and social events by interpreting the topic “________is difficult”. After two fierce rounds of preliminary selection, five students successfully advanced into the final round. Andrew Liu from 7(12) gave us a brilliant speech about self-discipline. The reason of why he chose this topic is because he has benefited a lot from it since beginning middle school. He drew his courage and perseverance from his idol Lionel Messi, who inspires and motivates students to find out what they love passionately. The five judges on the panel included teachers from ESHS and SHSID as well as Ms. Liuliu. Their comments brought warm appreciation from and brilliant inspiration to both speakers and the audience.

Next was the intense and speculative Chinese debate competition. Four contestants each from SHSID and ESHS discussed issues closely related to middle-school students such as whether the main fault for generation gaps lies with parents or children. After the teams calmly and confidently stepped onto the stage and took their seats, a battle kicked off. The first debater of each team made their claim and explained their point of view, and then the second debaters made supplements and refutations based on the first debaters’ speeches. In the defense round, each team member welcomed the interrogation from the opponent's cross-examiner and then the third debaters provided a summary of the interrogations. After the stimulating debate session, the fourth debaters reiterated the opinions of all parties and made summary statements on the content of this debate. Finally came the Q&A session when judges asked questions that led each team member to reflect on themself. With new ideas emerging one after another, the debate raised rounds of laughter and applause from the audience!

Both teams have worked hard to make it a high-level competition. After experiencing the preliminary trials, they have gradually become accustomed to checking information, revising manuscripts, and reviewing debates every day. During this process, the students developed a deep understanding of the topic itself and teamwork. Tong Xin from 7(1) said, “It’s actually arguing what method could have been used to have an equal power to make decisions in a family.” Speaking of teamwork, Chingwei Zhou from 7(7) recalled, “A team is extremely important, especially in debate. Each person plays a role that cannot be replaced or taken over by someone else. My teammates not only were a great audience when listening, but also great teachers. They gave me an abundance of constructive advice to help me improve, also correcting my logical errors. I believe my team is one of the main reasons I made it to the final round. They gave me support and helped me immensely.”

In the end, the opposing side won the championship. The winners of the personal speech contest also came to the stage to receive their awards, raising the energy on the stage to a climax. The students demonstrated their abilities and specialties in this competition, and gained the motivation to move forward.

Winners List

Speech Competition

Most Popular Speaker Awards：7-4姜淙译；高大为（ESHS）

Prize for Excellence：

孙奕文（ESHS），卢祖乐（ESHS）；

7-9郑恺馨，7-11黄千钰；

The Third Prize：7-4姜淙译；李千羽（ESHS）

The Second Prize：7-12刘睿扬；尹庄满（ESHS）

The First Prize：7-7左清蕊；高大为（ESHS）

Debate Competition

Best Debater award：顾呈宇（ESHS）

Best Stage Presence：7-1童昕