THE FEDERATION OF FINNISH-BRITISH SOCIETIES is arranging

The Annual Autumn Seminar with four British lectures at the British Embassy on 17th September on BRIGHT IDEAS: TEACHING. LEARNING. MOTIVATING

Further information and programme from Saara Sähköpostiosoite on suojattu roskapostiohjelmia vastaan, Javascript-tuen tulee olla päällä nähdäksesi osoitteen

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Let’s talk: Finnish high schools debate in English

A university planner emailed me the above quote some years ago and told me that it summed up how she felt about speaking in public. And that was when she spoke in Finnish! When I was watching Finnish high school students back in January standing up and speaking English in front of an audience, I wondered what she would have felt. Admiration? Envy? Or that things had changed a good deal since she was at school.

The occasion was the final of the national debate competition held at the British Embassy in Helsinki. Teams of students and their teachers had come from Helsinki, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Kouvola, Kuopio, Pori, Tampere and Turku to debate a wide range of topics in front of a panel of judges. Throughout the morning they talked about whether Finland should rent out areas of wilderness in which to store foreign nuclear waste or whether university graduates should be given extra votes in elections. As the debate coordinator – and a high school English teacher – it was a pleasure to listen to young people express themselves with confidence, fluency, and a keen sense of humour.

Remembering my planner, however, I couldn’t resist asking the participating students the secrets of their success. So, during the lunch break I asked how they acquired their eloquence and ease with the language. Almost all of them had warm words to say about their teachers, many of whom had put in time and effort to develop their oral skills. What surprised me was how many students said they were not the best English speakers in the class – they were simply interested in learning how to debate.

Preparation for this year’s debates began back in autumn 2009 when the competition was advertised by the Finn-Brit Federation and the Federation of Foreign Language Teachers in Finland. Teachers who felt they would like a little extra training attended a one-day course in Tampere run by myself and Rich Penny (a prize-winning debater from Helsinki University). In over twenty schools across Finland teachers – and in some cases students – set up debate clubs and debate courses to develop oral and presentation skills. Then, in November, semi-finals were held in different regions of Finland to select the team that would go on to represent their school at the British Embassy.

The team from my school never made it to the final, but they spoke appreciatively of the debating they did both together and with other Tampere schools. Here are some of their comments:

"I don’t like being shy. Now I’m more relaxed about speaking – in Finnish too."

"Explaining what I think about things actually makes me think about things."

"You have to watch the audience to see how they responding."

"I’m able to stick to the subject better. My ideas are not all over the place."

"I can think in English without translating all the time."

"Working with a partner was good – you have to learn how to work together."

The first prize for the debate competition is an all-expenses-paid trip to London for the students and their teacher. This year it was won by the Kouvola team. However I suspect that an even stronger motivation for taking part in future competitions will be the arrival in Finnish high schools of the oral English course.

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1 The teams are given a subject to debate and toss a coin to see who will speak in favour of the idea (the proposing team) and who will speak against it (the opposing team).

2 The teams sit down and plan their arguments.

3 The first speaker from the proposing team explains why it’s a wonderful idea.

Then the first speaker from the opposing team explains why it isn’t.

4 The second speaker from the proposing team answers some of the criticisms raised by the opposing team.

Then the second speaker from the opposing team answers some of the criticisms raised by the proposing team.

5 Both teams answer questions from the audience.

6 A speaker from the opposing team sums up their arguments.

A speaker from the proposing team sums up their arguments.

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Mike Davies is a high school English teacher and the national debate coordinator.

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