英語レシテーション・スピーチ指導のあり方

The article aims to provide some useful pedagogical tips for junior and senior high school English teachers when they help their students with contest recitation and speech, based on the author’s experience serving as contest（ chief） judge for more than 15 years. First, a short history of recitation and speech contests for secondary schools in Hiroshima Prefecture is summarized, followed by how these contests have been organized and how the contest winners are usually decided. Secondly, the usefulness of recitation practice is discussed from the following three aspects:（1） acquisition of proper pronunciation, intonation, and rhythm of English,（2） acquisition of English vocabulary, grammar, and usage, and（3） development of speech delivery skills. Next, several important perspectives are presented for making good formal speeches in tournaments. Giving a formal talk is not easy for many people, especially young secondary school students. However, the author hopes that students will have valuable experiences through participating in contests and feel a lot of excitement and pleasure in delivering formal talks in public.