第10回全国中学生英語ディベート全国大会で、本校初出場で2勝を挙げました

高校生の英語ディベート大会である「第15回全国高校英語ディベート大会”Online” 東京都大会」に初出場、初勝利を挙げたのに続き、11月下旬に行われた中学生英語ディベート全国大会で、本校チームが初出場で2勝を挙げ、強豪チームと互角に渡り合いました。

ディベートのトピックは、All secondary schools in Japan should abolish school uniforms. (日本のすべての中等教育で、制服を廃止すること)。このトピックについて、肯定、否定に分かれ、アタックとディフェンスの点で、英語で議論していきます。本校チームは初出場ながら、Mr. Willie Vickers 先生とMs. Jihan Victoria 先生からの指導のもと、素晴らしいチームワークと英語による論理構築力で大きな成果をあげてくれました。

参加した本校の中学3年生のディベート・チームの生徒の言葉です。

今までディベートに参加したことのない私たちにとって大会はとても不安に感じていましたが、チームメイトの協力と先生方のサポートによって二勝する事が出来ました。私たちは、私たちを支えてくださった全ての先生方に心から感謝しており、自分たちを誇りに思っています。

このようなディベートに参加することで、いかにチームワークが重要であるか、そしてどのように協力し合い、支え合うかを実感しました。信頼できる情報を使って説得力のあるエッセイを書くことと、その情報をいつ使うべきかを学びました。また、他の学校がどのように英語に力を入れているのかを知ることができ、英語力の向上心を忘れてはいけないと思いました。次のディベートでは、他のチームの発言を考えて、自分の主張を守るための強力で論理的な方法を考えていきたいと思います。

This was the first debate competition for all of us and we were really nervous but because of teachers’ support and our cooperation, we were able to succeed. We want to thank all the teachers who supported us, and also we are all proud of ourselves.

By doing this debate, we realized how teamwork is important for these kinds of things. Also, how to be cooperative, and support each other.  We learned to write persuasive essays by using reliable sources and when to use reliable information. Also, we get to see how other schools are pouring their efforts into English, and we thought we should never forget to advance my English skills. If we can participate in the debate by any chance in the future, we would like to think about what other teams might say and come up with a strong and logical way to defend our point.  we hope my experience will be meaningful in the future.

The following is a report on the debating games by Ms. Jihan Victoria.

The recently held All Japan Junior High School English Debate Tournament (Henda) was a novel experience for almost everyone involved in the Otsuma Nakano Junior High School team.  For the Junior High School team that competed, this was not only their first time participating in Henda, but also in academic debating. Henda is a very public policy driven debate that required not only strong critical thinking skills and logic, but also strong research ability and reading comprehension skills. The topic, “All secondary schools in Japan should abolish school uniforms,” required the girls to think of propositions like this outside of their own personal opinions and think of the implications of such a plan in the economy, society, and community.

Everyone was understandably nervous about competing with other schools. I was fortunate enough to watch all 4 debates that our team participated in. During their first debate, I could see how nervous everyone was. However, the girls persevered and won their 2^nd match. I saw a clear change in their attitude in the subsequent matches. A curveball was thrown in the form of an additional impromptu debate, but the girls handled the situation calmly and kept their cool throughout the whole match. 　It was so great to see their progression from being nervous in the beginning to confident at the end of the day. They had some doubts the day before, but after the tournament concluded, I was so happy to hear from them how it was such a positive learning experience for them.