Local students win mock trial against Australian peers

It is no secret that English education is critical in a young Korean student`s life.

There are several private institutions and services available for such a cause.

Recently, Australian and Korean high school teams displayed their considerable debating talent by competing in the first international mock trial, conducted via video conference at COEX.

The event was sponsored and organized by the Mock United National Organization of Seoul, the Korean Handong International Law School and the Australian New South Whales Law Society and supported by the Australian Embassy.



The Korean team, winners of the Mock Trial Global 2009, was from Minjeok Leadership Academy and the Australian school was from Penrith High School in Sydney.

The event showed how easily and comfortably young people from different cultures can communicate even at great distances.

Ahn Jae-hoon, the mock witness for the case, explained that as soon as the mock trial session began, the room quickly heated up with the passion of both Korean and Australian participants.

"The air mounted with tension and excitement flashed in each participant`s eyes as sharp objections were made only to be denied by witty rebuttals."

She added that it was a "truly amazing experience" to participate in the 1st International Mock Trial Competition and that she "would never be able to forget it in a lifetime."

Besides being awed by the cutting edge technology that allowed her to hold a mock trial session face-to-face with Australian participants thousands of kilometers away, this international competition made her feel what globalization truly meant and gave her a new insight on her skills.

"I realized that now, in the 21st century, competitions do not stop at a national level, but extend to a world level," said Ahn.

She added that she became fully aware only after the competition that there were many skilled competitors worldwide that scrutinized her English and mock trial skills.

"Although the Korean team won the 1st International Mock Trial Competition, the Australian team showed a truly stunning performance in both the contents and the delivery of their speeches," she said.

The mock trial made it possible for students from both sides to bridge of great distance.

"Winning against the Australian team had given us confidence that if we just tried hard enough, we could overcome numerous hardships such as English being our second language," she said.

The case that they tried was an assault case that took place in February in Australia.

The background papers were supplied by the Law Society of New South Wales.

On the Australian side, Rick McLennan, the teacher of the Australian team said that his students gained immensely from the experience, even though they did not win.

"The kids performed well and they were delighted to be in it," he said. "It was nice to have that extra dimension, competing against a team from a different culture."

McLennan was impressed by the way in which the Korean students mastered the language and the competition format, which differed slightly from their own competitions. The students from the private school in Seoul had recently won the domestic mock trial competition.

"Their English was very strong, with a bit of an American intonation," he said.

For the past few years, the Australian Embassy has sponsored the MUNOS organization to enable local students to practice their English language debating skills.

Mary-Jane Liddicoat, education counselor at the embassy said that there is huge potential for such e-class connectivity between Australia and Korea given the little or no difference in time zones.

"We are particularly keen to see more connections as the Australian government has a newly funded `National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools` initiative focused on China, Japan, Indonesia and Korea," said Liddicoat.

"We are looking for all sorts of ways to help Korea raise its profile among Australian school students. This is a terrific way. It also helps Korean students develop real English communication skills. The mock trial kids were amazing."

By Yoav Cerralbo



(yoav@heraldm.com)