A spoken-prose category in which each entrant performs one passage of ordinary written text that moves between standard English and Jamaican language, recorded on the template as a four-minute entry scored out of 100 and offered in all seven classes.
Speech – Mixed Standard and Jamaican Prose is the sixty-first entry on the Jamaican national performing arts festival template and the sixth category of its Speech discipline. It is the prose partner of the mixed poem class that comes just before it, and it closes the run of language-based speech classes before the template moves on to dub poetry, public speaking and story telling. The handbook files it as category 8 of the speech syllabus, marked as a prose category, and the abbreviation used on entry forms is MSJP(B).
The handbook defines prose as the ordinary form of written or spoken language, straightforward discourse of the kind found in newspapers, novels, textbooks and the Bible. For this class the passage chosen has to contain both Jamaican language and standard English. Every entrant in Classes 1 to 6 presents one selection only, limited to three minutes, so there is no pair of contrasting passages to prepare for the older classes. That is the main difference from the single-language prose classes, where Classes 5 and 6 offer two.
A mixed prose passage is usually a story, a letter, a conversation or a piece of reflective writing in which narration and speech sit in different registers. A narrator may tell the story in standard English and let the characters talk in Jamaican language, or a writer may move between the two inside one paragraph as the feeling changes. Prose has no line breaks or rhyme to signal the switch, so the speaker has to make every change of language clear through voice, pace and posture. The handbook sentence for the class sets the standard: entrants ought to deliver with equal dexterity the dynamics and nuances of the languages intermixed.
The usual entry rules apply. The right author must be acknowledged, the entry form must say clearly that the selection is prose and not a poem, and every participant submits a copy of the selection with the entry form. The handbook suggests an online anthology, but a text used in Jamaican schools, earlier published anthologies and other approved published material are also allowed. Costume should suit the character or situation, and the handbook discourages school uniform and plain black, white or grey unless the mood of the text calls for it.
The template records the item as a team entry, both genders together, with English as the language, a four-minute window with the warning bell at three minutes and a score out of 100, in all seven classes. The handbook describes the category as a solo class in Classes 1 to 6 with a three-minute limit, and it lists a separate speaking-ensemble version for groups of 7 to 16 members in which two contrasting selections are performed and each selection must include both languages. An organiser who wants to follow the handbook for the solo class should set the entry type to individual and the time limit to three minutes. Organisers run a mixed-language prose class because it gives speakers who move between the language of school and the language of home every day a place to be judged on that skill in connected, unrhymed text.
Where Speech – Mixed Standard and Jamaican Prose comes from
Caribbean prose writers have long let narration and dialogue sit in different registers, with a standard English narrator and characters who speak in the language of the home, so a competition class for that blend follows a real literary habit. Nothing in the source for this template says when the mixed prose class joined the festival, who has won it or how it developed, so no festival history is claimed here.
Where Speech – Mixed Standard and Jamaican Prose is run
On eTalenter this item is used in one template, the Jamaican national performing arts festival template, where it is assigned to all seven classes (six age bands from the youngest children to adults aged 20 and over, plus a combined class) in the Speech discipline, after the matching mixed poem class and ahead of the dub poetry class. Classes for prose in a local or creole language, and for passages that blend it with the formal language, appear in school, community and cultural festivals in many countries, but each event sets its own text lists, time limits and age bands, so the rules on this page apply to the festival the template is built from.
- Jamaica (the national performing arts festival the template is built from)
Key facts
- A prose category: the entry must say the selection is prose, not a poem, the right author must be acknowledged and a copy of the selection goes in with the entry form; the form abbreviation is MSJP(B)
- One selection only in every class from 1 to 6, and the passage must contain both Jamaican language and standard English; there is no second contrasting selection in the solo class
- Each selection is limited to three minutes; the handbook asks for equal dexterity in the dynamics and nuances of both languages
- The template gives a team entry, both genders together, English as the language, a four-minute limit with the warning bell at three minutes and a score out of 100, in all seven classes; the handbook describes a solo category for Classes 1 to 6, plus a separate speaking-ensemble version for 7 to 16 members
- Marked on the shared four-part speech table: voice production, speech, presentation and interpretation, weighted 20, 30, 20 and 30 at auditions, 10, 35, 15 and 40 at parish level and 4, 20, 4 and 22 (out of 50) at the national finals
- Ideas, not rules, for choosing a passage: a short story told in careful standard English with a grandmother or neighbour who answers in Jamaican language; a letter home that begins formally and relaxes into home talk; a market-day scene where the narrator and the vendors speak in different registers. Always check the passage against an approved source and the age of the entrant
On eTalenter, Speech – Mixed Standard and Jamaican Prose is filed under On Stage and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Speech – Mixed Standard and Jamaican Prose is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to around 4 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Speech – Mixed Standard and Jamaican Prose
What a Speech – Mixed Standard and Jamaican Prose panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- The handbook prints one marking table for the whole Speech discipline, so a mixed prose passage is scored on the same four headings as every other speech class; the points below follow that table and are a summary, not a quotation of the rule
- Voice production: audibility, projection, tone, resonance, colouring, texture and pace, worth 20 at auditions, 10 at parish level and 4 of 50 at the national finals. Because prose has no line endings, voice is the only signal of a switch: marks go to a speaker whose narrator and characters sound clearly different, and are lost to one who flattens everything into a single reading voice
- Speech: articulation, enunciation and pronunciation, worth 30, 35 and 20 of 50. The handbook names Oxford English as its reference for pronunciation and does not explain how that applies to the Jamaican passages, so an entrant should ask the organiser how the panel reads it. Whatever the answer, every word in both languages must be crisp, and the sentence joins must not blur
- Equal dexterity: the handbook sentence for this class asks for the dynamics and nuances of both languages to be delivered equally well. The panel listens for a speaker who is as secure in the Jamaican sentences as in the standard English ones, and marks down uneven delivery where one language is polished and the other sounds read
- Presentation: costume, stage presence, performance energy, style and visual impact, worth 20, 15 and 4 of 50. In prose there is often more than one speaker inside the passage, so a small, consistent change of stance or gaze for each voice usually scores better than constant movement
- Interpretation: comprehension, expression, mood and feeling and believability, worth 30, 40 and 22 of 50. This is where a mixed prose passage is won. The panel rewards an entrant who understands why the writer changes language at each point, finds the turns in the thought, and lets pauses carry the feeling; it marks down one who recites the sentences evenly
- Time: three minutes for the single selection. A passage that runs over must be cut or paced differently in rehearsal, never rushed on the day
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Speech – Mixed Standard and Jamaican Prose under Scoring Setup, or start from the full speech competition judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Speech – Mixed Standard and Jamaican Prose
How entrants and their teachers usually get Speech – Mixed Standard and Jamaican Prose right on the day:
- Choose a passage that really does use both languages and be able to say why it changes at each point. Read it aloud, mark every switch, and write beside it what has changed: the speaker, the person spoken to or the mood. A switch you cannot explain will sound accidental
- Check the rules first: prose, not a poem; both Jamaican language and standard English in the text; author acknowledged; a copy of the selection ready for the entry form. Use the approved anthology, a school text or another approved source, and make sure the passage can be told in three minutes without losing its sense
- Cut to fit. Prose is easy to over-run, so choose a complete scene or paragraph run rather than the first three minutes of a long chapter, and make sure your cut still has a beginning, a turn and an ending
- Time it with a stopwatch at performing speed and aim for about two and a half minutes so the three-minute limit leaves a margin for nerves. Trim a sentence rather than speed up
- Rehearse each language on its own first. Say only the standard English sentences in order, then only the Jamaican ones, and fix the weaker set until both are equally clear. Then join them and rehearse the switches as the hardest part
- Give each voice in the passage its own colour without making any of them a caricature: a small change of pace, pitch, posture or eye line is enough. Record yourself and listen for places where the less comfortable language gets quieter or faster
- Mark a printed copy. Underline the words that carry the meaning, put a slash at every breath and write the mood beside each paragraph. Memorise paragraph by paragraph, and practise starting from the middle so a slip never means starting again
- Perform for a mixed audience, including someone who does not speak the Jamaican sentences every day, and ask which parts they followed and which they lost. Adjust pace and gesture before you change any words
- After a result, ask for the adjudicator’s comments and note which of the four headings lost marks. Most improvement comes from interpretation and speech, so choose a more demanding passage next season and keep working on the sentences that were marked down
Ready-made event templates that include Speech – Mixed Standard and Jamaican Prose
Open any template to preview it in eTalenter and install it as a live, editable event.
| Template | Category | Score label | Competitions |
|---|---|---|---|
| JCDC National Performing Arts Festival (Jamaica) | On Stage | Marks | 7 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Speech – Mixed Standard and Jamaican Prose judged individually or as a team?
Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Team entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.
What makes a prose passage count as mixed standard and Jamaican?
The handbook requires that the content of the prose selection includes both Jamaican language and standard English. A passage written wholly in one language belongs in the standard English or Jamaican prose class. The entry form must name the mixed prose category, and the panel expects the speaker to deliver both languages with equal skill.
Is this the same as the mixed poems class?
No. The two classes share the same rules on language, length and marking, but this one is for prose, the ordinary form of written language such as a story, letter or news passage, while the mixed poems class is for verse. The entry form must say which of the two you are entering.
Do I have to perform two passages?
No. Every class from 1 to 6 presents one selection only in the solo category. That differs from the standard English and Jamaican prose classes, where Classes 5 and 6 perform two contrasting selections. The separate speaking-ensemble version of this category does ask for two contrasting selections.
How long can the passage be?
The handbook allows three minutes for the selection. The template gives a four-minute window with the warning bell at three minutes, so an organiser following the handbook should change the limit to three minutes.
Is this judged individually or as a team?
The handbook describes the solo category as an individual class for Classes 1 to 6, and lists a separate speaking-ensemble version for groups of 7 to 16 members. The template records the item as a team entry, so an organiser who wants the solo class should set it to individual.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full speech competition judging criteria guide, or browse every on stage competition item.
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