Arabic And Japanese Speech Competition Slated For Friday; Dance, Traditional East Asian And Turkish Music To Herald Awards

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas will present the Second Annual Arkansas Arabic and Japanese Language Speech Competition on Friday afternoon, April 18, at the School of Law. UA students studying Japanese and Arabic at different levels will deliver their original speeches to panels of judges consisting of both native and fluent non-native speakers of the two languages. Munificent cash prizes will be awarded the winners.

At 5:30 p.m., preceding the awards ceremony, an extraordinary cultural program will take place. The program will feature "Five Songs of Spring from Medieval East Asia"; a dance, "Four Cantos in Eternal Time," inspired by the "Poem of the Two Loves" by the eighth-century Iraqi poet Rabi’a; and a selection of Turkish devotional hymns from the 14^th to the 19^th century. The East Asian songs are sung by Shiori Yamaguchi accompanied on clapper by Mirian Suzuki; the dance is choreographed by Prof. Terry Brusstar; and the Turkish hymns are sung by Talat Halman, who will accompany himself on the baglama saz, a Turkish lute.

The Arabic-language competition will take place in the law school courtroom (Room 113) from 2 to 4:30 p.m. The Japanese-language competition will take place in Room 324 from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. Refreshments will be served to the contestants, judges and the public at 5 p.m. outside the law school courtroom. The public is invited to attend the speeches, the reception, the cultural prograM and the awards.

The cultural performances are organized by the Center for the Study of Early Asian and Middle Eastern Musics.

Funding and other support are provided by the King Fahd Center for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, the Center for the Study of Early Asian and Middle Eastern Musics, the Department of Foreign Languages, the Multicultural Center, Spring International Language Center, and the School of Law.