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 (continued)
In the forth and ultimate round,
the ICLP No. 2 team went head-to-head with the second round’s victors, NTU
Debate. Throughout the event, participants’
rhetorical prowess and knowledge of international current events was no
less impressive than their advanced language ability.
The event was the culmination of
the experimental course Debate Training (辯論課).
Throughout the semester, ICLP teacher Wei Pao-Pei (魏寶貝) has worked with David Bratt,
Jeffrey Chivers and Andy Liu to design and implement the course. In lieu of using a textbook, students
research select topics and prepare arguments daily. Liu brings ample debate experience to the
course, having competed in the US nationally (CEDA) and coached high school students.
Debate Training is part of ICLP’s
ongoing efforts to position itself as an innovative leader in
Chinese-language teaching. Advanced
students often require something beyond the standard curricula to reach the
next level of proficiency. “From
actively designing the course, to writing the proposal for an
interscholastic debate competition, to holding multiple planning meetings
with ICLP administrators, to recruiting NTU and NCCU students, to their
dynamic performance at the competition—that these students are able to use
Chinese to formulate and execute a project of this complexity and scale
demonstrates that they have already achieved a high level of integration
between their Chinese-language ability and professional skills,” explained
ICLP Administrative Director Chen Li-Yuan.
Chivers, who will begin law school at Georgetown
this fall stated that, “I hope to return to Taiwan
or mainland China
to pursue a master’s degree in law. At that time, I believe I will
thank myself for the time spent at ICLP developing the tools necessary to
express myself powerfully, succinctly and accurately (吵架) in Chinese.”
ICLP plans to hold a similar event next year on a larger scale.
Results
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