With practical topics and lively debates, the English Debate Contest is really a useful playground, creating opportunities to connect, exchange as well as show the talents of students who love English of DTU. The 10 best students selected from the Audition Round continued to have impressive and attractive performances at the Final of the Contest held on the morning of February 11, 2023.

GS. Barbara G. Howell speaking at the Competition Final

The first English Debate Competition was successfully held at DTU in January 2016 with the management of Prof. Barbara G. Howell - Senior Lecturer from Lorain Community College (Ohio State, USA) has attracted the attention and participation of a large number of Duy Tan students. This is a competition that gives DTU students the opportunity to hone their persuasion skills in English, public speaking bravery and many essential skills to meet the needs of international integration.

Speaking at the Final of this Contest, Prof. Barbara G. Howell said: "I have been teaching Critical Thinking at DTU for 10 years now. I was really impressed by the English ability and presentation skills of DTU students. Every year when I come to DTU as a guest lecturer, I notice a marked improvement in their English proficiency, from pronunciation, intonation to debating and presentation skills fluently like native speakers. We all know that English is an important factor in international integration. Therefore, they need to continue to cultivate and promote what they have to go further and further.

The judges and the contestants of the Debate Contest took souvenir photos

Currently, at DTU University, there is a Debate Club (DTU Debate Club) and the idea of the birth of the Club was rekindled 5 years ago at the request of TS. Le Nguyen Bao - Rector of the school, in order to create a useful playground to help Duy Tan students improve their debating skills in English. The Debating Club has attracted the participation of many students who are good at English, active and enthusiastic. After 5 years of operation, the Club has organized many Debating contests attracting the participation of many English-loving students who want to develop critical and creative thinking. Hopefully, in the coming time, the club will grow and have more useful activities."

At the final round of this year's Debate Competition, 10 students divided into 5 groups debated on 5 topics:

- All students must participate in volunteer work in their community;

- Face-to-face learning is better than online learning;

- Animals should be kept in zoos;

- Social media does more harm than good; and

- Beauty pageants should be abolished.

With new and interesting perspectives on current "hot" issues, DTU student groups came together to debate passionately and excitedly, demonstrating their understanding and ability to persuade listeners to agree with their views in English. At the end of the competition, the Jury selected the best performers to present the prize. Specifically:

- First prize awarded to Frances Summer Dale V. Dy,

- Second prize awarded to student Nguyen Thien Huong,

- 2 third prizes went to students Duong Phan Van Anh and Le Thanh Chung,

- Consolation prize was awarded to 6 students: Le Duc Anh Tai, Nguyen Vu Nhat Ha, Pham Quynh Nhat Vy, Le Khac Anna, Trinh Thanh Ly, and Nguyen Duc Huy,

- Participants from the Audition Round received certificates of participation in the contest.

Delighted with the second prize, student Nguyen Thien Huong shared: "This is the second time I participated in the contest and the first time in 2018 I only won the Consolation Prize. This achievement is a practical result from the previous experience of participating in the competition combined with your own self-training. From here, I also noticed my own improvement in English skills, public speaking skills,... The Debate contest is really a useful playground, giving me the opportunity to express my views, insights and discuss interesting topics in life. Thereby, I also have the opportunity to improve my knowledge, improve my English skills to improve and develop myself further."