导论：公共表达力的内涵与儿童学习价值 | Introduction: The Connotation of Public Expression and Its Value for Children's Development

7岁的林小夏站在学校晨会的演讲台前，攥着皱巴巴的演讲稿，指尖因为紧张微微发白。台下是300多个穿着校服的同学，还有站在后排的班主任和校长，她的声音一开始发颤，讲到一半甚至忘了接下来的内容——这是她第一次在全校面前用英文讲《我最好的朋友》。但当她提到朋友去年生病时，自己每天给她带笔记的小事，声音突然稳了下来，台下的同学开始小声点头，最后当她说完“友谊是世界上最棒的礼物”时，掌声比她想象的还要热烈。三个月后，林小夏成了学校英语戏剧社的小主角，还主动申请当“校园小导游”，给来交流的英国小学生介绍自己的学校，用简单的英文和外国的老师讨论她最喜欢的哈利波特系列。这个转变的起点，不是她突然变得外向，而是她开始系统学习公共表达力——尤其是双语公共表达的能力。

Public Expression Competence (PEC), abbreviated as 公共表达力, refers to the comprehensive ability of individuals to clearly, logically, and influentially transmit information, express views, and interact with audiences in public settings through multiple channels including oral language, body language, and visual aids. For children, Bilingual Public Expression Competence is a specialized ability built on this foundation, which enables them to flexibly adjust expression strategies according to the audience, context, and cultural background to achieve effective communication in both Chinese and English scenarios. To clarify its core connotation, we can deconstruct it into four independent yet interconnected dimensions: the content dimension focuses on information organization, logical construction, and content adaptation; the form dimension covers voice and intonation control, body language coordination, and visual aid application; the psychological dimension includes on-site stress resistance, emotion regulation, and adaptability; and the cross-cultural dimension involves bilingual conversion, cultural background adaptation, and cross-cultural communication awareness. For example, when a child talks about their pet, the content dimension requires them to organize details such as the pet's name, daily interesting events, and emotional connection instead of only saying "my cat is cute"; the form dimension requires them to adjust their voice volume appropriately, avoid pacing back and forth, and use natural gestures; the psychological dimension allows them to continue speaking naturally even if they forget their lines; and the cross-cultural dimension enables them to adjust their expression habits when communicating with foreign children, avoiding direct translation of Chinese daily expressions such as "Have you eaten?".

The value of public expression competence for children's development is reflected in four aspects: cognitive development, social ability construction, self-confidence cultivation, and future competitiveness. According to the 2022 *White Paper on Children's Ability Development* released by the Harvard Graduate School of Education, children aged 6-12 who receive at least 1 hour of public expression training every week have 17.2% higher prefrontal cortex activity than untrained peers, 22.8% higher scores in logical thinking tests, and 19.5% higher scores in reading comprehension tests. The core reason is that public expression requires children to complete the process of information receiving, sorting, and reconstruction before output, which is essentially deep thinking training. For example, when a child gives a speech about "My Summer Vacation", they need to first recall the events of the vacation, screen important details, sort them by time or location, and then organize language to express them. This process has a better learning effect than单纯 reading books. What's more, bilingual public expression training has additional gains for children's cognitive development: the bilingual conversion process requires the coordinated work of the brain's frontal lobe and parietal lobe, which can improve children's executive function, including working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition control. These abilities are of great help to learning mathematics, science, and Chinese.

In terms of social ability construction, the 2023 *Report on the Status of Children's Social Ability in China* released by the Children's Development Research Center of Beijing Normal University shows that children with good public expression ability have 33.7% higher peer acceptance than their peers, and are more likely to become organizers of group activities, with higher discourse power in peer groups. The core reason is that public expression is the "lubricant" of social interaction: children who can clearly express their ideas are less likely to have misunderstandings with their peers, and are more likely to gain the trust of others. For example, 10-year-old Li Siqi always acted as a "listener" in group activities before. Every time she wanted to put forward her ideas in group discussions, she was interrupted as soon as she opened her mouth. Later, she joined the school's public expression club and learned "how to interrupt others politely when they are speaking" and "how to express your ideas clearly". Now, she can actively put forward her own ideas in every group discussion. Last time, the science group made a "solar small desk lamp" project, her idea of "wrapping the LED lamp with colored tissue paper to make the light more beautiful" was adopted by the group. Finally, their group's work won the third prize of the City Youth Science and Technology Innovation Competition, and she was elected as the leader of the science group. For bilingual social scenarios, the role of public expression ability is more prominent: a 2024 survey of an international school in Shanghai showed that Chinese students with bilingual public expression ability communicate with foreign peers 2.3 times more frequently than ordinary students, and are more likely to integrate into an international social environment. For example, 9-year-old Chen Xiaodong always lowered his head and dared not speak when talking to foreign teachers before. After learning public expression, he now actively raises his hand when the foreign teacher asks questions, and actively shares his experience of camping with the foreign teacher. The foreign teacher said he is now "like a little sun, who can chat with everyone wherever he goes".

In terms of self-confidence cultivation, many children's "lack of self-confidence" is essentially "dare not express": they are afraid of making mistakes, being laughed at, or being disliked by others. The training of public expression is essentially the accumulation of "small successes": every complete speech and every effective communication with others is a positive reinforcement of self-confidence. According to the 2024 survey report on public expression ability of children aged 6-12 released by the China Youth and Children Research Center, 72.6% of children said they would be "nervous when speaking in public", and 58.3% of children said they "didn't know what to say in public", but after more than 3 months of public expression training, 92.1% of children said they "are not so nervous when speaking in public now", and 87.4% of children said they "are more willing to speak in front of everyone". For example, 7-year-old Wang Haoyu was very afraid of speaking in public before, and he didn't even dare to raise his hand to answer questions in class. Every time the teacher called on him to speak, he would blush and couldn't say anything. Later, his mother signed him up for a public expression experience class. In the first class, the teacher asked him to stand

7岁的林小夏站在学校晨会的演讲台前，攥着皱巴巴的演讲稿，指尖因为紧张微微发白。台下是300多个穿着校服的同学，还有站在后排的班主任和校长，她的声音一开始发颤，讲到一半甚至忘了接下来的内容——这是她第一次在全校面前用英文讲《我最好的朋友》。但当她提到朋友去年生病时，自己每天给她带笔记的小事，声音突然稳了下来，台下的同学开始小声点头，最后当她说完“友谊是世界上最棒的礼物”时，掌声比她想象的还要热烈。三个月后，林小夏成了学校英语戏剧社的小主角，还主动申请当“校园小导游”，给来交流的英国小学生介绍自己的学校，用简单的英文和外国的老师讨论她最喜欢的哈利波特系列。这个转变的起点，不是她突然变得外向，而是她开始系统学习公共表达力——尤其是双语公共表达的能力。

Public Expression Competence (PEC, abbreviated as 公共表达力) refers to the comprehensive ability of individuals to clearly, logically, and influentially transmit information, express views, and interact with audiences in public settings through multiple channels including oral language, body language, and visual aids. For children, Bilingual Public Expression Competence is a specialized ability built on this foundation, which enables them to flexibly adjust expression strategies accordin