Source: School of Tourism Management
Written by: Hong Ailin, Feng Qidi, Zheng Yanfang
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

From May 18 to 24, 2016, the 19th “FLTRP Cup” National English Debating Competition was held in Beijing Foreign Studies University. In this competition, two teams from Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) distinguished themselves by performance. Representing SYSU Zhuhai Campus, Hong Ailin, a 2nd year student from the School of Tourism Management and Feng Qidi, a 3rd year student from the School of International Studies won the first prize in the national final, ranked 6th among all 122 teams in the point race. Representing SYSU Guangzhou Campus, Chen Luzhe, a 2nd year student from the School of Atmospheric Sciences and Ou Wanjing, a 2nd year student from the School of Engineering won the second prize in national final, ranked 27th in the point race. Meanwhile, Zheng Yanfang and Yin Shuhui, two tutors from the Faculty of English Education at SYSU’s School of Foreign Languages, were awarded “Excellent Judges” for their outstanding work during the competition.

The “FLTRP Cup” National English Debating Competition was organized by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, All-China Students’ Federation and Beijing Foreign Studies University, and was hosted by the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (FLTRP). Founded in 1997, this annual competition is the earliest and most influential national English debating competition in China. In the past 19 years, a total of more than 1,000 universities participated in this competition. The “FLTRP Cup” National English Debating Competition has been recognized by EFL educators and university students nationwide for its authority, scale, and brand influence.

The 19th FLTRP Cup National English Debating Competition had 4 regional preliminary competitions (East China, West China, North China, and South China). 122 teams broke into the national competition among 500 university teams in 4 regional competitions. The two teams representing SYSU entered the national final as the Champion and the 6th of South China Region. The national final consisted of 1 mock round, 8 preliminary rounds (point race), and 4 elimination rounds. Debate motions included copyright restriction, financial investment, information security, marital and family system, left-behind children, etc. These motions had a high level of requirement for English proficiency, critical thinking, and debating skills. During the competition, SYSU competed with China Foreign Affairs University, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Fudan University, and University of Macau. Both teams broke into the top 32, and Team SYSU (Zhuhai) got the sixth place in the point race.