Southern Arizona Language Fair

The Southern Arizona Language Fair ("SALF") is held every year by the College of Humanities at the University of Arizona. More than 2000 students from Southern Arizona meet to share their language-learning experiences. IST enters two events : Entertainment which is a performance event and Poetry/Prose Recitation which is judged and scored by a panel of adjudicators.

Entertainment

Every IST student is entered in this category in their non-English Language A. Most groups perform a song, on a big stage in an auditorium and in front of perhaps 200 people! The main purpose of this event is for the student(s) to be on stage befere a live audience. Quality will follow!

Parents are asked particularly to bring their child(ren) for this event. The entire class has rehearsed together and students who fail to appear can spoil the occasion for their classmates.

Poetry/Prose Recitation

Teachers select students to participate based on whether they think the student will have a postive experience, not on the anticipated result. Learning comes from participation, which we feel to be more important than the final scores. However, as this selection is done almost two months ahead of SALF, students may reach this standard but not be entered.

IST generally chooses poetry recitation as students then have a complete text to work with, rather than an element of a longer piece. Texts are sent home at the beginning of the second semester and students are asked to learn the words at home. At school, teachers work on delivery and performance skills.

Junior School only - students who speak another language at home are urged also to enter this at either Language A or B level as appropriate. Students who learn another language at IST are urged to enter this at Language B level. Some students compete or perform in three languages!

Note - as we feel that participation and the growth through continued participation is paramount, our policy is that we do not reveal individual scores. Students will receive ribbons and pins as awarded by SALF and the actual certificates are awarded at year-end Prize-Giving. Parents who wish to see their child(ren)'s score and judges' comments may do so through the Heads of Pre-School / Junior School for a short time, after which they will be destroyed.

Organisation

SALF typically runs 9.00am - 1.00pm, and students and parents are asked to report to the IST booth at 8.30am. At tha time we will have room and time assignments. Parents are strongly advised not to consult any online SALF programme as it is inevitably overtaken by reality (withdrawals, additions, discovered errors) and is thus inaccurate. Every year, we have students miss their performance / competition times as the organisers changed them - even when the online programme is updated, rooms and times can still be changed. We also like IST students to be present so that they can support friends and colleagues in other groups.

Results

2006 - 8 students entered in Spanish. All were judged "Outstanding" or "Excellent" in Poetry/Prose Recitation. All 8 were three years old. By coincidence, the chosen poem was the same as for a watching Middle School group who announced that they had been intimidated by our performance and could not go on!

2007 - 22 students entered in French and Spanish. Again, all were "Outstanding" or "Excellent".

2008 - 64 students entered in French, German and Spanish. All were "Outstanding" or "Excellent".

2009 - 84 students entered in French, German and Spanish. Most were "Outstanding" or "Excellent".

2010 - 107 students entered in French, German and Spanish - and Czech A, English B, French B, Malay B, Romanian A and Russian A!! IST entered more than 7% of the total! Almost IST students were "Outstanding" or "Excellent".