Joutes oratoires lycéennes

Join us on Wed. 5th July at 5pm to discover the Joutes oratoires lycéennes 2024 and how to take part!

Two teachers, organisers of the regional heats for now many years, will guide you through the process of organising your own heat and prepare your students for the contest.

To register and learn more about this event:

Atelier Découvrez les Joutes oratoires lycéennes 2024

A few words about the Joutes oratoires lycéennes

The Joutes oratoires lycéennes is a French debating competition open to all sixth formers in the UK. Running over the last decade, it has gathered several hundreds of young French learners, all sharing the same interest in practicing languages in a creative and challenging way. The finals, usually organised at the Institut français du Royaume-Uni during the Mois de la Francophonie, bring several months of regional heats to a close. What a great way to enhance one’s capacity of critical thinking as well as one’s knowledge and understanding of the French-speaking world!

A joute, or sparring match, opposes two teams of two students each. One team will argue in favour of a statement, the other against it. The students are allowed to prepare their arguments beforehand and adjust them to this highly codified exercise.

Download Le manuel de présentation des Joutes to know more about Les joutes oratoires lycéennes.

Last year, the statements debated during the first round of the national finals were:

« Le nucléaire est une énergie d’avenir »
« Les anciennes puissances coloniales doivent restituer les œuvres d’art qu’elles ont acquises pendant la colonisation »
« L’œuvre est indissociable de l’artiste qui l’a produite. »
« Les artistes devraient recevoir un revenu minimum de l’Etat »

What the competition offers

To participate in the Joutes oratoires lycéennes enables sixth formers to gain confidence in speaking French and to address current and captivating topics such as the environment, decolonisation etc. They will learn to develop control of the language system and build coherent arguments, directly in French, interacting with their fellow contestants on the spot. They will also engage with French on a more daily basis, listening to the radio and coming up with idioms used by French speakers. In other words, they will become familiar with this language and have fun with it!

Winning contestants are awarded prizes such as book tokens or cinema vouchers to discover further Francophone cultures.

How to participate

To get in touch with regional coordinators and to participate in regional heats, please contact projects-education@institut-francais.org.uk

FAQ

Is the competition free to enter?

The competition is free to enter and remains free throughout its different stages: regional heats and national finals.

Can a school participate in multiple regional competitions if several students want to take part in the contest?

Unfortunately, it is not possible for a school to be represented more than once in the regional heats. However, a teacher can organise heats inside their classroom and/or school so that everyone can participate and only send the best team to the regional finals.

Are my bilingual and/or native students allowed to participate?

This contest is aimed at French learners, i.e. students who are not immersed in the language daily. Thus, students from French schools, French-speaking families or students who have been schooled a significant time in a French-speaking country cannot participate. However, it is left at the discretion of their teacher to decide whether their fluency allows them to participate or not. If they cannot take part in the contest itself, they can still be part of the adventure by helping their fellow students to prepare, by organising a mock contest in which they are a jury member, giving advice etc.