The Concours d’art oratoire is Canada’s largest annual French public-speaking competition. 

The competition is open to students in every province and territory in a wide range of age/grade categories and French abilities. Thousands of students participate every year in communities big and small for their opportunity to win prizes and/or scholarships to postsecondary institutions!

First, students must prepare their speech presentations. These presentations will then be judged within their own province/territory. CPF-PEI Branch will be held in person. Time and place will be announced on a later date. 

Grade 11 & 12 students who place 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each of the categories will move on to the National finals.

The Concours for PEI Branch is open to French as a second language (FSL) and Francophone students from grades 7 to 12 who are studying:

• Core French
• Early French Immersion
• Mid French Immersion
• Late French Immersion
• Francophone

The Concours d’art oratoire has proven to be highly beneficial for students as it:

• stimulates their interest in learning French;
• improves their speaking and pronunciation skills;
• offers them the experience of speaking French in public;
• provides an opportunity to foster a community of active French language learners; and
• demonstrates the relevance of French language instruction in the ‘real world.’

1. The 2024 Provincial Concours d’art oratoire will be held in person.
2. Typed manuscripts of the speeches must be submitted by email to William Henault at william@nl.cpf.ca.  The deadline for submissions is Friday, March 29,2024.

    

3. Speeches must be an original work by the student, not a recitation of another person’s work. Students must use the same speech at the various levels of competition. Minor changes to the speech are permitted based on the judge’s comments at the various levels but the student’s topic and title must remain the same.
4. Students may not present the same speech at the Provincial Concours d’art oratoire that they have presented in a previous year at the provincial competition.
5. While presentations should be committed to memory, cue cards with key points are acceptable. Students are advised that reading out a written speech will be adversely reflected in judges’ evaluations.
6. Students will speak for three (3) to five (5) minutes. The participants’ speech in the Junior Category should be between two (2) and five (5) minutes.
7. Speeches that are over or under the allotted time will receive a penalty: one point (1) for 1-30 seconds, two (2) points for 31-60 seconds, etc. The time is clocked from when the student begins to speak.
8. Students must not identify themselves in any way, by name, school or school board. To do so will result in automatic disqualification.
9. No display material is permitted. Unauthorized use of costume or support material will result in an automatic disqualification.
10. Gestures must be kept to a minimum. It is not necessary for the head and hands to remain completely motionless, but gestures must be natural and spontaneous, as opposed to dramatic. Examples of unacceptable gesturing include wild arm movements (flapping wings), pirouettes, kneeling, turning ones back to the audience. Excessive gestures will result in a penalty of up to three (3) points.
11. This is a speech arts competition as opposed to dramatic arts. Poems, songs and dramatic pieces are not appropriate.
12. Participants will have to answer follow-up questions after judges have heard their speeches.
13. A jury of three impartial judges evaluates speeches. Judges will fill out the Judges Evaluation Form for each participant. Judges will not discuss the speeches unless a tie has to be broken. Judges should put comments about the student’s performance on a Comment Sheet to be given to the students. Judging forms remain the confidential property of Canadian Parents for French – Newfoundland and Labrador.
14. A first, second and third place winners will be chosen from each group, based upon the information contained within the Judges Evaluation Form and the Timekeeper and Penalty Form.
15. Division B’s first, second and third place participants in each category will be invited to participate in the National Concours d’art oratoire, held in Ottawa in 2024.

Evaluation will be based on the following:

Presentation

• Posture
• BodyLanguage
• EyeContact
• Memorization

Vocal Expression

• Pronunciation
• Articulation o Fluency
• Pitch
• Audibility
• Rate/Pauses

Coherence of Speech o Organization

• Sequence of Content
• Relevance of Ideas
• Relationships of Ideas
• Creativity
• Language
• Vocabulary
• Grammar Structure

The deadline for submissions is Friday, March 29,2024.

Grade 11 & 12 students who place 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each of the categories will move on to the Virtual National finals. 

View the full list of 2024 National finals scholarship descriptions and eligibility details HERE

All participants receive a letter of participation and for each category and the bursary and cash awards will be announced soon. 

What is Concours d_art oratoire_teachers

Guide de l’art oratoire_guide to public speaking

Choosing a topic _English_

Comment choisir un sujet _French_

PEI-Guide-de-lart-oratoire_guide-to-public-speaking_

How to guide Public Speaking _French

For questions and more information: email William to: william@nl.cpf.ca

Early Start

You will notice that we are announcing the contest earlier this year. The intention is to encourage more Schools, Teachers, and Students to participate in the contest. We also encourage greater participation in all 5 categories of French education in the province.

Everyone should know that there is a spot for them to compete, regardless of the French program they are in. Core French students compete with Core French student, Early French Immersions students with Early French Immersions students, and so on. However, Canadian Parents for French-Newfoundland and Labrador wants to provide more support for students…

Mentorship Program 

An early start also gives participants time to take advantage of the mentorship program. This will be a series of online workshops offered by Francophones, French Teachers, and former participants of the contest. Workshops will go over skills to master Vocal Expression, Coherence, Language, and Physical Presentation.

The online sessions will be offered in the Winter of 2024, leading up to the deadline for applications on March 29, 2024.

Learn More!