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424 PERSUASIVE SPEECHES FOR ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Multicultural, Multilingual
1 Perdóneme señor; me perdí. Podría decirme cómo ir al Hotel del Sol?
2 A few of you may know what I just said, “Excuse me, sir. I’m lost. Could you tell me
how to get to the Sun Hotel?” However, some of you may not, even though you had three to four
years of Spanish in high school. I have one question for you: Would you be able to get around in
a foreign country where the language you studied was spoken?
3 According to a class survey I conducted, all of you said that you studied a foreign language
in high school, the majority of you for three to four years. Yet most of you do not have enough
knowledge of the language to use it correctly. In addition, 92 percent of you said you thought it
would have been more helpful to have started your foreign language study earlier.
4 Today I hope to convince you that knowledge of a foreign language is important and that it
MULTICULTURAL, MULTILINGUAL 425
426 PERSUASIVE SPEECHES FOR ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
MULTICULTURAL, MULTILINGUAL 427
Multicultural, Multilingual
Commentary
By analyzing the use of supporting materials in a speech, students often get a better idea of how to use
them in their own speeches. “Multicultural, Multilingual” has a variety of supporting materials and illus-
trates how they can be employed to clarify and bolster a speaker’s ideas. It also provides an opportunity
for students to discuss how the speaker could have employed supporting materials more effectively.
Here is a synopsis of the speech.
Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that foreign language instruction should be mandatory in
all U.S. elementary schools.
Central Idea: Mandatory foreign language instruction in all U.S. elementary schools will help prepare
today’s students for interaction in the global economy and in the increasingly multicultural con-
text of the United States itself.
Method of Organization: Problem-solution
Introduction: The introduction consists of paragraphs 1–4. Posing the opening question in Spanish is
428 PERSUASIVE SPEECHES FOR ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
MULTICULTURAL, MULTILINGUAL 429
