English-language speaking and presentation contest

In honor of Earth Day on April 22, 2007, the US Department of State Office of English Language Programs?T English Language Fellow Program, in cooperation with the Institute for International Education and the U. S. Consulate General, HCMC, will hold an English-language speaking and presentation contest:

Why do you care about the environment ?

Details about the contest may be found on the IIE Vietnam web site: http://www.iievn.org

TO ENTER: Submit an outline of your presentation to: Ms. Hanh Nguyen, Institute for International Education, 69 Hoang Hoa Tham , Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, Tel: 08. 510 8844 or via email to edu.assistant@iievn.org

TO ENTER, YOU MUST BE A CURRENT STUDENT IN A VIETNAMESE HIGH SCHOOL OR UNIVERSITY.

Be sure to include your name, address, and a way to contact you. Participants may be contacted for further information about their essays. Deadline: April 13, 2007. Outlines will be judged on relevance to the theme of the contest, clarity of the thesis; originality and creativity; rhetorical sophistication; and technical quality of writing, including organization, grammar, syntax, and form.


Finalists will be interviewed by the judges on April 19-20. The top 5 winners will also have a chance to make their presentations at the ceremony, receive attractively-framed winners?T certificates, and be able to report winning this prestigious award on their CV or résumé.

The awards ceremony is scheduled for: April 26, 2007, at the

Kim Do Hotel, Saigon Hall (ground floor)
133 Nguyen Hue, District 1
Ho Chi Minh City

For further information about the contest, email either Ms. Hanh Nguyen at edu.assistant@iievn.org, Tel: 08. 510 8844 or Ivon Katz at dropbooks@yahoo.com.

Prizes include a weekend at an eco-resort, a new bicycle,
supermarket coupons, and a variety of books!

Short-listed candidates will receive
a certificate of participation.




Earth Day Speaking/Presentation Contest
General Information

Why do you care about the environment?

ELIGIBILITY:
This contest is open to any native speaker of Vietnamese currently enrolled full-time in a high school or university in Vietnam. Contestants must be living in Vietnam, and have resided here for the majority of their lives. Overseas entries will not be accepted.


GENERAL PROCEDURE:
Contestants will submit an outline for a 10-minute oral presentation responding to
? the contest question
? the status of environmental issues in Vietnam

Outlines will be judged and ranked, and the top 20 contestants will advance to the second round. Contestants will be contacted for interviews on 19-20 April. In the second round, contestants will give their presentations before a judge and be asked to answer a few questions. Overall, this portion of the contest will last no more than 15 minutes per contestant. Contestants?T presentations and responses will be recorded so that each judge?Ts decisions may be verified by another judge.

The top 5 contestants will be the finalists; during the awards ceremony, the judges will review the decisions taken during round two, and a final decision of the rank of these 5 contestants. Prizes will be awarding according to the finalists?T ranking.


IMPORTANT DATES:
? Deadline for submission of presentation outlines: April 13, 2007
? Second-round interviews: April 19-20, 2007
? Awards Presentation: April 26, 2007


JUDGING CRITERIA:

Round 1: Each contestant should submit an outline for his/her presentation. Outlines will be judged according to
1. Task fulfillment
2. Communicative clarity
3. Coherence and cohesion
4. Potential to be an engaging presentation
5. Creativity

Round 2: Interviews will be scheduled for the top 20 contestants. They will be asked to deliver their presentations in 10 minutes or less, and will be asked a number of follow-up questions. Presentations/responses to follow-up questions will be judged according to
1. Task fulfillment
2. Communicative clarity
3. Pronunciation
4. Public speaking skills
5. Coherence and cohesion of presentations and responses
6. Creativity

In both rounds, judges will use scoring rubrics addressing each criterion.

NOTE:
The decisions of the judges will be final. General questions about how to create successful presentations may be directed to Ivon Katz, at dwale@yahoo.com; there is no guarantee that questions will be answered, however.