information and details about the speech contest
Theme
The theme for KS3 and 4 is “My dream”. Students are free to interpret the theme in any way they wish. The speech should be 2 – 3 minutes long for pupils in KS3, and 3 – 4 minutes long for pupils in KS4.
Students in KS5 are free to choose their own theme. Although the speech can be on any topic, it needs to be very well planned with a few main points which you introduce, elaborate and then summarise. The speech should have a title, and be 4 – 5 minutes long.
When judging the tapes, the judges will bear in mind the GCSE, AS and A2 vocabulary, topics and grammatical structures appropriate to that Key Stage.
Finals
Judges will listen to every tape and choose six finalists from each category. The finalists and some supporters will be invited to speak live at the Finals Day on Saturday 28th June. Finalists in the Key Stage 5 category will also be asked to participate in a short question and answer session after their speech.
Closing Date
All submissions (whether electronic or postal) must reach the organisers by Saturday 5th April.
Prizes
The best speaker in each category will win a trophy, to be kept by their school for a year. Gold, silver and bronze medals will also be presented to the winner and two runners-up to recognise their achievements. The winner of the Key Stage 5 category will also be invited to travel to Japan to take part in the Japanese Speech Award (JSA) Finals and Cultural Programme at the end of July 2008. The organisers are delighted to once again be working in partnership with the Japanese Speech Awards to facilitate this.
Rules
- The judges’ decisions on all matters will be final.
- Only one entry per student will be accepted.
- Those who have won first prize in previous contests cannot enter the same category twice.
- The contest is only open to bona fide students of Japanese in the UK.
- Japanese native speakers and / or those for whom Japanese is a family language / language regularly spoken at home will not qualify.
- Students who have lived in Japan for a continuous period of more than six months are not eligible.
- The speech must be the student’s own work.
Contact Details
If you have any queries, please send an email to speechcontest2008@jlcweb.org.uk