On April 18 and 19, the West China Division of 28th "FLTRP·ETIC Cup" National English Debating Competition wrapped up successfully. Representing XJTU, Cheng Yuze and Xia Fangwen (coached by Liu Rui and Ji Le) secured the runner-up in the West China Division.
The tournament brought together 116 teams from over 80 universities across 11 provincial regions, including Shaanxi, Sichuan, Chongqing, and Gansu. After intense competition over five round-robin debate rounds, XJTU contestants—Cheng Yuze and Xia Fangwen—topped the round-robin standings and qualified for the National Finals. Their solid linguistic proficiency, remarkable critical thinking capabilities, and excellent teamwork earned them a spot at the National Finals to be held in June.
The "FLTRP·ETIC Cup" National English Debating Competition is currently China's largest and most prestigious English debating tournament. Founded in 1997, it stands as one of the landmark platforms showcasing contemporary Chinese college students' English proficiency, global vision, and critical thinking capabilities. It aims to inspire young students to think deeply and critically, share Chinese stories, and grow into versatile talents with global competence.
The motions were forward-thinking and profound, covering diverse topics including youth psychology, professional ethics, technological ethics and distributive justice, requiring competitors to rapidly analyze both sides of each debate proposition. The first round revolved around the romanticisation of youth, examining whether idealized portrayals of adolescence obscure the complexities of growth and impose extra psychological pressure on younger generations. The fourth round presented an ethical dilemma centered on the virtual technology Farmageddon, which creates immersive empathy for factory-farmed animals, discussing the ethical limits of mandating this technology and touching upon the right to life and the boundaries of technological governance. The grand final focused on wearable Emotion Regulator devices, sparking heated debates over the trade-off between absolute emotional stability and the authenticity of life embodied in natural human emotional fluctuations. All topics comprehensively tested debaters' philosophical thinking and capacity for realistic judgment.
Having gained valuable experience from this competition, Xia Fangwen shared her reflections. She pointed out that Time Allocation stands as one of the key factors affecting performance in British Parliamentary (BP) debate. With no free debate segment, each speaker must balance in-depth reasoning and thorough refutation within merely 7 minutes. She also mentioned that compared with the timidity and fluster she felt when she first took up debating, she can now strike a poised balance between constructing arguments and processing multiple points of information, and mastering speech rhythm has become a vital part of her personal growth.
Cheng Yuze stated that coordination and tacit understanding between teammates are vital, especially when facing evenly matched rivals in later rounds, as teamwork directly shapes competition performance. Under BP rules, opening bench speakers cannot lay out comprehensive arguments, so partners must align on core claims and reasoning during preparation. He explained that closing bench debaters need to elaborate on standpoints, deliver powerful rebuttals against opposing teams, and reinforce the framework built by opening speakers, all of which relies on seamless teamwork between the pair.
English debating helps students enrich academic knowledge, polish linguistic expression and foster critical thinking, which aligns closely with XJTU's education mission of fostering virtue and cultivating high-caliber interdisciplinary talents. The outstanding achievements the XJTU team has made stem from the university's comprehensive education system and the targeted training provided by SFS. With strong support from various university departments and XJTU's Practical Education Center, SFS has built an integrated training system combining instruction and practical education for English public speaking and debating, and established multi-level platforms for student development. Systematic courses covering public speaking, English debating and critical communication are embedded in foreign language and college English curricula; English majors receive intensive practical training alongside coursework to fully integrate theory and practice. Moreover, cooperating with the Public Speaking Association (PSA), SFS hosts university-wide English debating contests and internal selection trials for the "FLTRP·ETIC Cup" each spring and autumn semester, fostering a campus culture where all students are encouraged to learn and engage in debate.
