The Second Chinese Bridge US High School Student Chinese Speech Contest

Year 2007

ò Letter to Teachers:

各位老师：

2005年5月7日全美中小学中文教师协会在国家汉办和大使馆的配合下,举办了"第一届全美高中生学习中文演讲比赛",来自17个州的17名同学参加了现场决赛，周文重大使亲自到场为获奖者颁奖.有很多学校为(老师和)学生到场参赛承担旅行费用,更有无数家长亲自到场助阵.演讲比赛在老师和学生中引起很大的反响.比赛结束后有很多老师发信感谢这次比赛给学生学习中文带来的巨大鼓励和积极影响,很多老师询问今后的比赛时间等,这一切说明"第一届全美高中生学习中文演讲比赛"带来的积极作用和影响.

在多位老师的推动和国家汉办的资助下，全美中小学中文教师协会将协助麻省大学孔子学院举办第二届"汉语桥美国高中学生中文演讲比赛"，其目是鼓励美国高中生的汉语学习热情,吸引更多的学生了解中国,积极地学习中国语言和文化,为他们能够在未来的日子里促进中美两国的沟通和友谊做积极的准备.我们希望本次比赛能在更大的范围推动全美中学生学习汉语的热情, 希望各位老师鼓励同学们积极参与本次比赛。

有关比赛事宜的安排和申请表格见另页.电话查询请与麻省大学孔子学院   汉语桥”美国高中学生中文演讲比赛总负责人孙柏风联系。

咨询电话：６１７－２８７７２９１　
email: baifeng.sun@umb.edu

感谢各位老师的参与和支持！

 

 全美中小学中文教师协会

会长            竹露茜
     执 行 主 任      林 游 岚

ò Announcement:

If you have any questions about the Chinese Bridge Speech Contest for US High School Students,
please contact Baifeng Sun at baifeng.sun@umb.edu

Please use the attached application form to register
by or before March 10, 2007
with student’s audio tape and printed script.

The finalists will be invited to participate in the on-site speech contest on April 28th at the University of Massachusetts Confucius Institute at Boston.


The Second Chinese Bridge
US High School Student Chinese Speech Contest

Date: April 28th, 2007 (Please see below for the detailed event schedule.)
Place: UMass Boston Student Center, Room 3445, 3rd Floor
Boston, Massachusetts, 02125

Sponsor: The University of Massachusetts Confucius Institute at Boston
Co-sponsor: The Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools
(CLASS)
Funded by: The Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban)

Registration and Rules:

1. Teacher of the student applicant must be a current member of CLASS in good standing.

2. Registration (use attached Application Form) begins in February and ends on March 10th , 2007. The Application Form must include a recent student photo (2in x 2in / Color) with student’s signature and signature from a parent or legal guardian. Each participant is required to mail in his/her recorded and labeled audio tape (no longer than five minutes), the printed transcript or script of the audio tape, along with his/her Application Form in one envelop by March 10th , 2007. Incomplete application will not be processed. No registration will be accepted after March 10th, 2007.

3. Send the complete application to:
Baifeng Sun
University of Massachusetts Confucius Institute at Boston
100 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA 02125-3393

Please download the application form from here:   Application Form 2007

4. Each school may enter up to two students for the contest. Individual schools should decide how their participant(s) are to be selected (e.g. holding a preliminary school-wide speech contest).

5. Heritage students already speaking Mandarin or other dialects before taking Chinese in school are not eligible.

6. There will be first place, second place and third place winners. First place winners will be rewarded Laptop Computers. Other prizes include: Translating Machines and Electronic Dictionaries. All participants will receive a Certificate of Participation.

7. Based on the results of the tape review, finalists will be selected and invited to Boston to compete on-site. The invitation notice will be sent out by April 10th, 2007. Finalists must be present on-site to compete for the top places on April 28th, 2007.

8. The theme of the speech is “Learning the Chinese Language and Culture.” Students are free to develop the content based on their own language learning experience. Each student must provide a title in Chinese for his/her speech. The speech must be between three to five minutes in length. During the on-site final contest, each student will be asked five questions after the delivery of his/her speech.

9. The contest is for high school students only. There will be two groups:

 Group One: for those who have learned Chinese for 1-2 years
 Group Two: for those who have learned Chinese for 3-4 years

10. On-Site Contest Schedule:

Date: April 28 (Saturday), 2007
 Registration: 10:30am--12:30pm (Lunch will not be provided.)
 Speech Contest: 1:00pm--4:00pm
 Special Performances 4:00pm--4:30pm
 Award Ceremony: 4:30pm--5:00pm
 Reception Dinner: 5:30pm--8:00pm


*The Registration Deadline is March 10th, 2007.

If you have any questions about the Chinese Bridge Speech Contest, please contact Baifeng Sun via e-mail at baifeng.sun@umb.edu at the University of Massachusetts Confucius Institute at Boston.
 

ò Scoring Guideline:

 
4      Strong connection between title and content (Logic)
        Considerable ease of expression and high level of fluency: no unnecessary pauses (Fluency)
        Excellent non-verbal communication: eye contact, facial expressions, and body language
        Excellent pronunciation: 1-2 mistakes only (Pronunciation)
        Excellent control of time: finished in 3-5 minutes (Time Control)
        Virtually error-free structure (Grammar)


3     Good connection between title and content.
        Ease of expression and good fluency
        Good non-verbal communication: eye contact, facial expression, and body language.
        Good pronunciation: 3-4 mistakes
        Good control of time: exceeded time limit by one minute or less
       Only a few errors in the structure: 1-2 errors


2    Some connection between title and content
      Somewhat fluent with occasional hesitation: may self-correct
      Adequate non-verbal communication: eye contact, facial expression, and body language
      Pronunciation that may interfere with communication
      Acceptable control of time: exceeded time limit by two minutes or less
     Several errors in the structure


1   Poor connection between title and content
      Limited or no fluency: halting speech
      Pronunciation significantly interferes with communication
      Poor communication skills: limited eye contact, facial expressions and body language
      Poor control of time: exceeded time limit by more than two minutes
      Poor structure: numerous errors
 

ò Winners:

2^nd Chinese Bridge US High School Student Speech Contest

 Group A ( Grade 9 and 10)

Two First Place Winners: T. M’ndange-Pfupfu  Sidwell Friends School, Washington,

                                           D.C

                                           C Vetrano: Verona High School, Verona, NJ  

Four Second Place Winners: R. Alexander, Belmont Hill School, MA

                                               R. Banks, Hockaday School, Dallas, TX

                                               G. Schecter, Watching Hills Regional High School, NJ

                                               P. Zedan, Carrolton School of the Sacred Heart, Miami, FL

                                                

Group B ( Grade 11 and 12)

Two First Place Winners:     J. Hartsough: Harvard Westlake School, N. Hollywood, CA

   A. Mayer: Sidwell Friends School, Washington, D.C.

 

Ten Second Place Winners:    R. Kauder Nalebuff:Choate Rosemary Hall School, CT

                                                H. Hashimoto: Punahou School, Honolulu, HI

                                                A. Holland: Belmont Hill High School, MA

                                                D. Zebrowski: Verona High School, Verona, NJ

                                                E. Burke: Hockaday School, Dallas, TX

                                                E.Ash:Brookline High School, MA

                                                K. Sakimoto: Punahou School, Honululu, HI

                                                B. Zazorsky:Brookline High School, MA

                                                Y.Choi: Hockaday School, Dallas, TX

                                                A. DiLanni-Morton: Boston Latin School, MA