The 8th Portuguese Debating Competition for Higher Education Institutions in China and Asia
Group Photo
The 8th MPI Portuguese Debating Competition for Higher Education Institutions in China and Asia, held at Macao Polytechnic Institute in partnership with Macao's Tertiary Education Services Office, came to an end on November 23rd. This year, 12 higher education institutions took part in the event, with participants coming from Macao, mainland China, South Korea and Vietnam.
During the competition, all candidates showed great expertise and enthusiasm, thus confirming the high quality of the event. This year, the participating institutions were Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Fujian Normal University, Beijing International Studies University, Dalian University of Foreign Languages, Shanghai University of International Studies, Beijing Normal University (Zhuhai), Beijing Foreign Studies University, Hanoi University (Vietnam), Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (Korea), Macao University, Macao University of Science and Technology and Macao Polytechnic Institute.
The competition was divided into two parts. During the first part, held on November 22nd, the 12 teams tried their best to persuade the jury and public with their performances. Candidates had to deliver a speech based on images that were displayed on screen, demonstrating their skills in impromptu speaking. Then, each team had the opportunity to show their debating skills by taking sides either in favour or opposed to a statement presented in a short video. This year, the topics for debate included the themes “Peace and Dialogue between People”, “Ethics and Science”, “Population Growth and Natural Resources” and “Sustainable Tourism”.
At the end of the first day, all participants were unanimous in the view that this kind of event is a very constructive way to increase and to share knowledge about the Portuguese language, as well as to discuss ideas and opinions with other students from other universities where Portuguese is studied.
Thursday November 23rd saw the final session of the competition, with the presence of all four finalist teams selected by the jury: Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Shanghai University of International Studies, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Macao University. The debate was very intense, and the audience in unison agreed on the excellence of the candidates, the strength of the argumentation presented and the depth of the ideas discussed.
Finally, the prizes were awarded to the three big winners. This year, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies was the champion with Beijing Foreign Studies University and Macao University coming in 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Once again, Macao Polytechnic Institute and the Tertiary Education Services Office were praised for the quality of the organization of the event, the reputation of which is rising in stature with each passing year. It is anticipated that in the future, new teams from mainland China and other Asian countries will also be taking part in the competition.