Le Concours d’art oratoire, the CPF French public speaking contest, continues to be one of the hallmark activities of Canadian Parents for French across the country. The pride and joy that parents feel while listening to their child deliver a speech in French is only one of the reasons this activity continues to gain momentum.
In Ontario, thousands of students participate annually in the Concours events in their schools, with some students moving on to a regional or school board festival or contest. Those winners represent their school boards at the Provincial Festival and Concours d’art oratoire, held annually at York University Glendon Campus. The Grade 11-12 student winners compete at the Nationals for total scholarships prizes valued at more that $300,000.
New Impromptu Division
With the introduction of the Impromptu division three years ago in Ontario, more and more school boards are embracing the Concours d’art oratoire-Impromptu as a tool to stimulate spontaneous oral production. The Ontario branch of Canadian Parents for French provides teachers and school board administrators with a guide on running the event as a classroom experience or as a festival or competition, complete with Certificates of Participation for each and every student to track their progress year after year.
Provincial Concours for Grades 9-12
The Provincial Concours d’art oratoire reached its capacity in terms of the number of participants, available space and volunteer judges at the May 2019 event. It has been so successful that this year Grade 9-10 students will compete in the morning and Grade 11-12 students will compete in the afternoon on May 2, 2020. Unfortunately, this has left no space to run a Festival for the elementary students simultaneously.
Festival d’art oratoire for Grade 4-8 (in schools and school boards only)
A Festival or Concours d’art oratoire can be run as usual in the school or school board. We encourage FSL coordinators and FSL teachers to make good use of the CPF Concours Guide and materials to run the local events for the elementary students.
Bonne chances aux élèves!