The French Debating Team
ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE JOUTES ORATOIRES The Alliance Française Joutes Oratoires French debating competition offers an unrivalled opportunity to senior cycle students of French to develop their oral skills and, by extension, their vocabulary, grammatical accuracy and ability to express their opinions.
Alexandra College has a long and proud history of competing in the Joutes Oratoires going back to their foundation in the early-1990s. Each competing school selects one team of four students supported by two subs. The motions for debate generally reflect the topics which students may be asked to give their opinions on as part of their Leaving Cert. oral and written exams. Every effort is made, however, to be topical and to ensure that the topics chosen will give rise to fruitful debate and be fair to both sides of the argument.
Positions on the Alex team for the Joutes Oratoires are always hotly contested with many of the most eager senior cycle French students vying to secure a place. Students who are native speakers or those from native-speaking backgrounds are not eligible to take part.