本学が毎年主催している「広島県高校生英語スピーチコンテスト」ですが、今年度も新型コロナウイルス感染症対策として、一堂に会して行う方法ではなく、スピーチ動画を送付いただく方法で開催しました。この度、授賞式を行いましたので、国際交流課より紹介します。

本コンテストは、優れた英語力と国際的な視野を身に付けようと努力している高校生が、日ごろの英語学習の成果を発表するとともに、自らの飛躍や夢を実現するきっかけとしていただくことを目的として、広島県教育委員会、福山市教育委員会、ふくやま国際交流協会からの後援、そして福山商工会議所、福山松永ライオンズクラブ、松永ロータリークラブからの協賛の下で、2003年から開催しています。おかげさまで、今年度で19回目を迎えることができました。

今年度も、感染症の蔓延状況が予測できない中、高校生の皆様の発表の場を何とか提供したいとの思いから、動画送付形式で実施しました。高校生の皆様には、英語教諭の先生方のご指導の下で、今年度のテーマにそった5分間のスピーチ動画を録画し、本学に送付していただきました。

どのスピーチもオリジナリティ溢れる素晴らしい内容でしたが、学内外の審査員による厳正な審査を行った結果、次のとおり受賞者を決定いたしました。

全員をお招きしたいところでしたが、コロナが完全に収束していない中、大賞等を受賞された一部の方に限定して、本学で1月18日（水）に授賞式を開催し、大塚学長より賞状、トロフィー及び副賞を授与しました。受賞された皆さん、おめでとうございました！なお、審査委員長の講評を本ブログの最後に掲載いたします。

この度のスピーチコンテストのレベルの高さは、日頃からご指導されている先生方の志の高さとご努力の賜物だと思っています。ここに記して感謝いたします。また、福山商工会議所、福山松永ライオンズクラブ、松永ロータリークラブの皆様にも重ねて御礼申し上げます。ありがとうございました。

学長から一言：本学が19年も続けている英語スピーチコンテストに出場して下さった13名の県内各高校の皆さんはいずれ劣らぬ実力の持ち主。審査員は優劣を決めるのに大いに頭を悩ましたと聞きます。今回も昨年度に続き、第8波のコロナ禍の中で感染防止を最大限に考え、所定のルールで予め作成された13の動画を厳正に審査しました。来年度は参加者が文字どおり一堂に会しての大会開催を願っています。

Lowes審査委員長の講評：

　Thank you very much to the participants in the 2022 High School English Speech Contest. Each year, the quality of the speeches is very impressive, and this is a measure of the high quality of the students and their teachers in this region of Japan.
　There were aspects of some of the speeches that helped them to be highly effective at communicating a clear and effective message. I want to highlight a few of these qualities.
　In any act of communication, it is essential that the creator of the language consider their audience. This is especially true when the language is in the spoken form, as it is not possible for the listener to revisit any points that may have been missed or unclear. To help the listener, speakers should speak in a calm manner that provides the listener with enough time to really attend to what is being said. The speaker, who already knows what they are about to say, does not need this processing time, so it is very easy for them to speak as fast as they are able to produce the sounds. However, when the goal is communication, the focus should be on allowing the listener to integrate what they are hearing with their own ideas on the subject.
　One caution with speaking calmly is that it does not mean that the speaker must be limited to only using a slow, calm tone. There are times that picking up the pace can also add to what the speaker aims to communicate. If one wants to convey a feeling of excitement, then reflecting that excitement in your voice will certainly help to bring your listener along for the ride. Another reason way a varied rate of presentation is useful is that it helps the speaker to hold the listeners’ attention. Our brains are built to notice change. Through changing the speed or intensity of how you speak, it is possible to grab ahold of your listeners’ attention.
　A useful example of using pace to focus attention on a point is the pregnant pause. This is when the speaker stops speaking for a moment: not long, but enough to be noticed. This abrupt change in the flow of the language captures the listeners’ attention and signals that the next thing that the speaker will say is particularly important.
　Another aspect of high-quality speeches is that they provide ideas that the listener will want to consider. Innovative ideas that are supported with real facts add a quality of authority to the speaker and give the listener a feeling that they can trust and benefit from listening to the points being presented. It is especially effective when each point builds upon previous points and is presented in a logical progression. As I mentioned above, the listener of a speech is experiencing the speech for the first time; therefore, it is not as easy for them to follow the meaning of the words as it is for the speaker, who has read and re-read the speech many times. Therefore, in conjunction with the logical flow of the ideas, transitional signals and the show how different points are related to each other are very helpful. One common way to connect ideas in this way is through using words like ‘because,’ ‘however,’ and ‘therefore.’ Other ways to do it might include repeating key words or using longer phrases to describe how things are related. Again, as a reader, the connection may be obvious, but for the listener, everything is new, and it is not possible to look back to refer to previous points; thus, the extra support may be welcome.
　To list and describe the many strong points of each of the speeches would take pages of writing. I hope that I can encompass my general feeling about the speeches in five words: I thoroughly enjoyed your speeches. Actually, I’d like to add one additional word: Thank you.