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The James J. Doyle contest offers students the opportunity to demonstrate their interpersonal speaking skills in Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, or German. World language professionals conduct individual interviews with students to evaluate their performance.
This year's contest will be held Tuesday, February 23, 2027 at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School. Registration will remain open until Friday, February 20. Check-in will begin at 3:30.
Eligibility: This contest is open to students from MCATFL member schools. Students must have learned their foreign language in a classroom in the United States. Students who live in a home where the target language is spoken, who have spent more than six consecutive weeks in a country where the language is spoken, or who have learned in an immersion program are not eligible to participate.
Registration and fees: Each school’s foreign language department may enter one student at each level in each language. There is no registration fee this year, although every teacher who enters a student in the competition must be a member of MCATFL. MCATFL membership costs $15 per year, per teacher. If you are not yet a member, you can join and pay your dues on the day of the contest or online.
There must be a minimum of 3 schools registered for each language at each level. If there are fewer than 3 schools registered, the schools that are registered should then enter 2 participants for each level. Schools will be notified in advance, if this occurs.
Competition Structure: All candidates will have the opportunity to interview individually with a world language professional. Finalists will then be selected and invited to participate in a second interview round.
Please note that students should not wear anything (uniforms, t-shirts, spirit wear, insignia, etc.) that would identify their school to the judges.
Students may participate in one of five levels in accordance with their academic experience with the target language. These levels are outlined below, and a more detailed description of interview topics by level can be found here:
Participants will be shown pictures as prompts for their interviews.
Level 1
Students who have completed Level 1 in a first semester block course, who have completed part A of a Level 1 A/B course, or who are enrolled in a standard year-long Level 1 course
Level 2
Students who are currently enrolled in level 2 or have completed it in a block schedule system
Level 3
Students who are currently enrolled in level 3 or have completed it in a block schedule system
Level 4
Students who are currently enrolled in level 4 or have completed it in a block schedule system
Advanced
Students who are currently enrolled in an advanced-level course beyond level 4
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