12 October 2007

Students bid to represent UK at international debate

A group of students from the University of Sheffield will go head to head with students from China in a debate to be held at the University this week (Friday 12 October 2007). The students will be competing for a chance to represent the UK in the International Varsity Debate 2007 finals in Beijing.

The International Varsity Debate, which is being run by China´s main television station, China Central Television (CCTV), aims to give university teams from around the world the opportunity to come together in China´s capital and debate a range of topics in Chinese. The whole process of selection and the finals will be filmed, and then aired, on CCTV in early December.

The University of Sheffield team is one of five UK university teams who have been chosen by CCTV to debate against a Chinese team, in a bid to win a place in the debate finals. Teams from the Universities of Leeds, London, Westminster and Oxford will also face the Chinese team from Zhejiang University, at their own institutions.

All debates will be recorded and then a panel of judges will watch the films and choose a UK winner. The teams will be judged on their Chinese fluency, argument and evidence, debating skills, bearing and demeanour and performance and sense of humour.

The Sheffield team, made up of four students who are studying Chinese Studies at the University, will be debating the topic of whether family or society should take the major role in looking after the ageing population. They will argue for society to take the role, where as the Chinese students will put the case across for family to take the role.

Dr Lily Chen, Director of Sheffield´s Confucius Institute and a lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University, who has been coaching the Sheffield team, said: "This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to practice their Chinese and meet students from a Chinese University. The students have worked tirelessly to prepare themselves for the debate and I am extremely proud of them. It would be fantastic for them to make it to Beijing and represent the UK, but at the moment they are just concentrating on this week´s performance."

Professor Peter Fleming, Pro-Vice Chancellor for External Relations at the University of Sheffield, who will give an opening address at the debate on Thursday, said: "The fact that Sheffield was one of only five UK universities chosen to take part in the competition, demonstrates the strength of Chinese Studies at the University. I look forward to welcoming the CCTV film crew and the Chinese students to the University and I wish our students the best of luck in the debate."

Richard Duffy, Captain of the University of Sheffield debate team, said: "This competition is a great opportunity for me and my fellow team mates to improve our Chinese skills in both speaking and listening. Our preparation with Chinese students studying locally has given us a real insight into what it is like to debate with native speakers of Chinese and has given us the chance to make new friends. Going to Beijing would be an excellent way to top off the whole experience."

The debate will be filmed between 10.30am and 12.00pm on Friday 12 October at the University´s Mappin Hall in front of a Chinese audience, made up of students from both the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University.