Speak Loud and Clear

The World Schools Debating Championship is an annual English speaking international debate competition for students going to non-university schools. A vast majority of participants are high school aged learners. A little more information about the actual competition can be found here and here.

Why do I care about this? Well other than the fact that debate is a highly technical and useful skill to have, and the art of debate is quite fascinating, I am afraid my reason for writing about it is a little bit more selfish. This past Monday, Fezeka High School and EwB were privileged to host a delegation of debaters from four different countries as part of the international competition. These students are the best their respective countries have to offer. Since they choose individuals and not school debate teams, you could say that they are the all-star team of their countries when it comes to debate.

Lusanda Ngqose Welcoming The Teams

Coming to Fezeka were debaters from Hong Kong, Romania, Philippines, and Bermuda. All the organizers asked from us were three simple things.

1) Make ready four classrooms for preparation, with two of those classrooms set up as debate areas.

2) Have a 30 minute "Welcoming" prepared for the debaters.

3) Try to procure some sort of an audience of learners for the debates themselves.

Well classroom prep was a cinch, and if you follow this blog at all you know the reputation of Fezeka welcomes (I was told by one of the judges that the choir "Sent chills down her spine" and that the welcome "was quite possibly the best of any school hosting"). However, it is this last item that I want to touch on quickly.

One of the things that we at EwB have tried to instill in our learners is confidence when speaking English. It is not always easy. We have started to lean towards using debates as a way to get them to speak English in front of groups of people and to also use critical thinking skills in forming their arguments. It covers facets that they need help in. In this visit was an opportunity for our learners to see the pros in action, and they were hooked. On top of  learning from the actual debaters, the judges were kind enough to run a workshop for our learners while the debate teams were preparing their arguments. Not only was it a great learning experience for them on a purely academic level, but socially they found their curiosity about these debaters and judges to much. Every time I turned around, there were learners crowding around debaters, coaches and judges asking questions. How did you learn to speak English so well? Why did you argue that? Is it hot in Bermuda? What countries border Romania? What kind of phone is that?

Judges Giving A Workshop To The Learners

As you can see, the conversations started out in a more serious nature and quickly became more familiar. It ended exactly how we wanted. They came together as students, they left as friends. It could not have been a more successful day.