On August 8th, 2014, teams of English students gathered at the Lao-American College to participate in the 2nd annual debate sponsored by U.S. Embassy Vientiane on the topic, “Is Gender Equality Possible?” Students from the Faculty of Letters at the National University of Laos, the Lao-American College, Vientiane High School, and the Finance and Banking Institute participated, judged by officers from the American Embassy. More than 50 audience members came to watch the debate.
The topic of the debate was “Is Gender Equality Possible?” The teams argued both sides of the issue, providing a great opportunity for the participants and the audience to learn more about both the affirmative and negative arguments.
Debates of this type are common in academic settings around the world. Participating in debates is recognized as an excellent way to sharpen one’s public speaking skills. Debaters also develop the ability to marshal facts and deploy them in a coherent, reasonable, and persuasive fashion to win an argument
It was a very close competition, but the team from Vientiane High School won the Grand Prize. Congratulations to all of the participants on an impressive performance! U.S. Embassy Vientiane looks forward to holding this competition again next year.
