Speech Contest Questionnaire (Educators)

The Japan Information Center at the Consulate-General of Japan in Chicagohas been organizing the Japanese Language Speech Contest nearly 30 years. To make the contest even more successful and rewarding for students, we have included the below questionnaire and would appreciate your feedback by February 12, 2015. Based on your comments, we plan to discuss with sponsors and judges how to best implement changes in the future.

Mail: Japan Information Center, 737 N Michigan Ave, Suite 1000, Chicago IL 60611

Email: Fax: 312-280-6883

Please provide your contact information (you can choose to answer anonymously):

Name: ______Title/Position: ______

Organization: ______Email: ______

Q1. Currently, we have 4 categories below and each category has about 10 finalists. However, in recent years the number of category 4 applicants has doubled while the number of younger students has decreased. How should we change or not change the categories and the ratio of finalists?

□ Keep the Current Category and Ratio(for example)

1st Category (Elementary & Junior High School Students)10 Finalists

2nd Category (High School Students with less than 3 years of Japanese)10 Finalists

3rd Category (High School Students with 3 or more years of Japanese,10 Finalists
College Students & Adults with less than 1 year of Japanese)

4th Category (College Students & Adults with more than 1year of Japanese)10 Finalists

□ Keep the Category but Modify the Finalists (for example)

1st Category (Elementary & Junior High School Students)6 Finalists

2nd Category (High School Students with less than 3 years of Japanese)6 Finalists

3rd Category (High School Students with 3 or more years of Japanese,6 Finalists
College Students & Adults with less than 1 year of Japanese)

4th Category (College Students & Adults with more than 1year of Japanese)20 Finalist

□ Have 3 Categories

1st Category (Elementary & Junior High School Students)

2nd Category (High School Students)

3rd Category (College Students & Adults)

□ Have 2 Categories

1st Category (K-12 Students)

2nd Category (College Students & Adults)

□ Other, please specify.

Q2. In the past questionnaires we had complaints about the length of the contest. How many finalists in total should be invited to the contest?

□about 40 (current)□about 30~39□about 20~29□Less than 20

Q3. Are you planning to have your studentsparticipate in this year’s speech contest?

□Yes □No

Q4.If you answered “No” to Q3, please specify the reason, check all that apply:

□I am too busy in general □Internal/Local speech contest is enough
□Internal/Local quiz contest is enough (e.g. Minnesota J-Quiz, Japanese Olympiad of Indiana)
□We have another event around the same time (e.g. Final exam, Japanese student visit)
□My students are not interested in participating speech contest
□Other (Please specify: )

Q5. What can we change in order to have more applications from students?

Q6. We usually wait 60 minutes for the judges to finalize the results. In the past, we have had networking reception, presentation(s), film screening, etc. What would be the best way to utilize this time for you, your students, and parents?

Q7. Any additional comments or suggestions for the speech contest?

Thank you for sharing your time and opinions.