Students from Nguyen Tat Thanh University take second place in English Speaking Contest

English Speaking Contest is a competition within the series of the activities of the academic year 2021-2022 to create a useful and dynamic academic playground for students, helping them demonstrate their public English communication competency. The contest was organized on May 20, 2022 by the Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages – Information Technology. This year’s contest welcomed the participation of 04 teams from 04 universities including Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages – Information Technology (HUFLIT), Nguyen Tat Thanh University (NTTU), Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH) and Saigon Technology University (STU).

The contest’s theme focuses on ‘Disaster – natural or human made?’. The debated topics include War/Terrorism, Environment/Pollution, Cyber security, Disease & Epidemic. These emerging topics are expected to help young people improve their awareness of the environment, the value of life and the human-nature relationship.

The contest aims to encourage students to freely express their thoughts, perceptions and solutions to global critical issues, thereby building their personality and point of view.

The contest consists of 2 rounds. In the first round, each team will have a total of 15 minutes to complete 3 parts. In the Group Introduction part, each team introduced themselves and the University attending in the most creative ways. NTTU team consisting of 5 students, Bui Nguyen Minh Tuan, Nguyen Phu Tan, Lang Gia Vi, Nguyen Dang Pha Le and Do Nguyen Linh Nhi cosplaying 5 characters in the Avengers which strongly impressed the audience. The Talent show encouraged each team member to show off their individual strengths. Most of the teams chose to sing and dance with fantastic performances creating a very exciting atmosphere during the show. NTTU contestants performed a mashup of 3 songs ‘One reason – Safe and Sound – Hunt me down’. In the Presentation part, the teams had to present their viewpoints on a chosen topic. Despite encountering one of the most difficult topic of War/Terrorism, the NTTU team demonstrated a variety of perspectives regarding the statement of “Peace is the virtue of civilization. War is its crime” by Victor Hugo. With their excellent performances, the NTTU team was temporarily ranked second place behind Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages – Information Technology at the end of the first round.

In the second round, 4 teams was divided into 02 pairs to debate about an actual situation. The draw determined which team was “for” or “against” to the ideas of the opponent. In each session of the 2nd round, the teams had 3 minutes to prepare, then 3 minutes to present their ideas, and finally 5 minutes to question each other. Although the topics are familiar to students, it is not easy to debate confidently in English, express one’s opinions and convince the opponents. NTTU contestants entered a very intense debate with the STU team on the topic of War/Terrorism. Eventually, NTTU team won the highest score (87.4) out of the 04 teams at after the second round.

The final results are as follows:

– First Prize: Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages – Information Technology

– Second Prize: Nguyen Tat Thanh University

– Third Prize: Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology.

– Consolation Prize: Saigon Technology University.

The judges and the audience were very impressed by all the teams. According to the judges, this year’s participants had good presentation and problem-solving skills despite difficult questions and topics. Their creativity and confidence on stage were also highly appreciated. In addition, the enthusiastic encouragement from a large number of students contributed to the successful performances of the contestants, creating a vibrant atmosphere and sense of  fair-play amongst the teams.

The English Speaking Contest has tightened solidarity and created more student exchange opportunities among universities. NTTU team’s achievement will be an inspiration for university-wide students to constantly strive to improve their English proficiency and create motivations for them to actively participate in other academic events and competitions. Hopefully in the coming years, the contest will welcome more students to participate to spread out the love for English study at NTTU in particular and other universities in general.