由中国日报社、可口可乐大中华区联合主办的“第19届中国日报社‘21世纪·可口可乐杯’全国英语演讲比赛湖北赛区总决赛”于2013年12月1日下午在湖北工业大学圆满落幕。来自华中农业大学的陈曦、湖北工业大学的郭立慷、武汉大学的刘英伦分获冠、亚、季军,这三位选手将代表湖北省学子进军全国总决赛。
本场赛事共有来自全省的19位精英选手同台竞技。他们在前期的互联网选拔赛、校园选拔赛、电话口试等多元化竞赛单元中脱颖而出,晋级福建省决赛。选手们围绕主题 “University as I see it”展开精彩绝伦的演讲。
为保持比赛的学术水平,在19届赛事全国总决赛的评委会中,仍邀请来自国内外一流高校、知名英语教育机构及中国教育部、新闻界、外交部的英语教育专家担任比赛评委,国外机构如国际英语联合会(ESU)、美国教育考试服务中心(ETS)、澳大利亚广播公司(ABC)、英国大使馆文化教育处等仍作为智库机构支持赛事发展。
湖北赛区总决赛由华中师范大学外国语学院副院长杨虹、中南财经政法大学外国语学院副院长梁小华、湖北工业大学外国语学院院长李庆生、中国地质大学外国语学院教授葛亚非、武汉工程大学外籍专家Brett Steenberg以及中国日报社21世纪英语教育传媒副总经理张海港担任评审团,并对选手的竞赛环节进行公正评定。
湖北工业大学副校长张颖江教授莅临比赛现场并致辞,他对赛事的权威性、严谨性、公平性予以高度肯定。张教授全程听取选手演讲,每到精彩之处频频点头赞许,为选手带来极大鼓励。
据悉,“21世纪杯”全国英语演讲比赛自1996年创办以来,作为我国英语教育界的一个传统项目,得到了全国师生和英语教育界专家的大力支持并积极参与,一直被指定为每年在英国伦敦举办的国际英语演讲比赛的中国区唯一选拔赛,面向全国在校大中小学生。中央电视台知名主持人芮成钢、刘欣,外交部著名翻译孙宁、张京等均曾作为赛事的优秀获奖选手,并代表中国参加国际比赛且荣获大奖。
The Hubei Regional Final of the 19th China Daily "21st Century • Coca-Cola Cup" National English Speaking Competition Concluded Successfully
(Wuhan, Dec. 1st, 2013) The Hubei Regional Final of the Nineteenth China Daily “21st Century·Coca-Cola Cup” National English Speaking Competition (the “competition”) concluded successfully on December 1st, 2013 at Hubei University of Technology in Wuhan. The Competition was co-sponsored by China Daily and Coca-Cola Great China, and co-organized by 21st Century English Education Media and Hubei University of Technology. After the fierce competition, Chen Xi from Huazhong Agricultural University won the championship. The first and second runners-up went to Guo Likang from Hubei University of Technology and Liu Yinglun from Wuhan University respectively. They will compete in the national semi-finals to be held next spring.
All together there were 19 contestants in the Hubei Regional Final of this year’s competition. They were selected through qualifying contests at university campuses and through audio-visual speech recordings submitted online followed by telephone interviews. They delivered eloquent and insightful speeches on the topics “University as I see it”.
As in the past years, this year’s competition has gained full support of well-known universities in China and abroad, major international ELT organizations, the Ministry of Education, the press circles and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Among the judges are ELT experts from the English-Speaking Union (ESU), the Educational Testing Service (ETS), Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy.
The panel of judges for the Hubei Regional Final consisted of 6 members, including Professor Li Qingsheng, Dean of School of Foreign Languages of Hubei University of Technology, Professor Yang Hong, Vice-Dean of School of Foreign Languages of Central China Normal University, Professor Liang Xiaohua, Vice-Dean of School of Foreign Languages of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Professor Ge Yafei from China University of Geosciences, Mr Brett Steenberg from Wuhan Institute of Technology and Mr Zhang Haigang, Vice Manager of 21st Century English Education Media, China Daily.
Prof Zhang Yingjiang, Vice-President of Hubei University of Technology attended the event and gave an enthusiastic speech. He spoke highly of this competition, which enjoys international fame and prestige.
Known for its strict procedures and authoritative judging, China Daily “21st Century Cup” National English Speaking Competition is regarded as one of the most prestigious event of its kind in China. Since its establishment, the competition has served as the qualifying contest in China for the annual International Public Speaking Competition (IPSC) organized by the English-Speaking Union (ESU). Winners of the national competition have taken prizes including Championship and Runner-up in the international contest. Among them are Liu Xin and Rui Chenggang, famous bilingual anchors and presenters and Sun Ning and Zhang Jing, interpreters and translators at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.