发表时间:2014-11-20 来源：
Here came another golden September and another annual gathering at School of Foreign Languages (SFL). From September 20 to 21, 2014, the eighth "FLTRP Cup" English Speech Contest hosted by SFL was held in Room 301 of the new teaching building. This contest aimed to enrich the cultural life on campus and intensify the students' passion for foreign language study. It could also guide the young students to strengthen their learning awareness, broaden their international horizon, improve their language skills and ability to think independently.
The contest was divided into non-English major group and English major group. There were 51 contestants from different schools participating in the contest. There were five teachers invited as the judges of this contest. They were Hao Lin, Bao Xiaowan, Steven Forster, Jennifer Tan and Adrian Tan.
The contest started at 2:00 p.m., September 20th, 2014. At first, each contestant gave a three-minute prepared speech. Then, they made impromptu speeches on random topics. The last part was the interactive session. In the first session, contestants gave excellent prepared speeches on the topic of "Change the Unchangeable", fully demonstrating their fluent oral English and unique personal charm. With different opinions, the contestants verified their arguments spiritually, materially and scientifically. Chang Hong, a SFL student, proposed questions to the judges actively, which lightened the tense atmosphere. In the second session, all contestants performed pretty well despite the difficulty of the impromptu speech. They overcame their nervousness and expressed their own opinions comprehensively. When Steven Forster asked Huang Yuting, a participant from School of Law, whether she would buy the iPhone six or not, Huang gave a certain Yes. Then, the humorous Steven joked "What about the future iPhone seven, iPhone eight, iPhone nine and the like?" Huang nodded her head unhesitatingly and described herself as an Apple fan. All the people present burst into laughter due to their humorous conversation. In the last session, the judges proposed several questions covering various aspects of life, from personal life attitude to their own opinion of hot issues. Contestants' clear answers and frank opinions showed their excellent listening and oral communication ability. Guo Xiaowen, an English major student, got the highest score for her logical and perfect expression. In the contest, contestant Shi Hanqing, a sophomore, caught the eyes of the whole audience and won a big round of applause with his passionate speech.
After the contest, the judges made wonderful comments. They emphasized that the most important thing was not what speech you were giving but how you delivered it. Judge Jennifer Tan said: "Those who have the courage to make a speech in a foreign language are worthy of our praise." Then, she talked about her experiences of learning Chinese and her lack of confidence when speaking Chinese. She added that the contestants had really encouraged her and she hoped that one day she could make a public speech in Chinese as what they did today. Besides, the judges pointed out the contestants' weaknesses in pronunciation and intonation as well as reasoning points. From the contest, all the contestants benefited a lot.
At 5:00 p.m., September 21st, 2014, the speech contest came to a successful end. During the contest, the young students showed their passion for English study as well as their excellent speech ability. At the same time, more students are encouraged to devote themselves to English learning and practicing, and make a better connection with the international world.
School of Foreign Languages
September 23rd, 2014
(2014MTIQRL7)