Teaching Debate in the English Language Classroom.
- Reasons for using debates in the classroom
- Debates terminology
- How we teach
- Important issues
- Skills needed for debating
- Dealing with information
- Developing arguments
- Convincing people
- Procedure and points to keep in mind
- Speech in focus
- Debate schedule
- Judging criteria
What we gain
- Personal enjoyment
- Memorable language
- Thinking clearly
- Empathy and tolerance of ideas different from our own
- The best learning experiences.
Brainstorm
Why would teaching debate in the English language classroom be beneficial?
Why teach debate?
- Debating ability is a valuable skill;
- Debate utilizes useful English;
- Develops critical thinking skills, ability to evaluate what we read and hear;
- Develops cooperative efforts and improves social skills;
- Develops research skills and ability to select and assess information.
Debate terminology
- Motion, proposition, resolution (= statement that can be agreed / disagreed with).
- Refutation, Rebuttal (= the proof that the statement or a charge made against you is false)
- Interjection (= an act of interruption)
- Floor questions (questions asked by the opponent team members or an audience)
- Adjudication (= an official decision who is right in disagreement and what should be done)
How we teach
Opinions:
- What is an opinion
- How do you express your opinion
- How do you express agreement or disagreement
- Resolutions: fact, policy, value
- Debate in the news
Expressing your opinion:
- Giving reasons
- Strong reasons: logical, specific, convincing
- Types of reasons: comparison, contrast, cause-and-effect
- Brainstorming
Supporting your opinion:
- Opinion – Reason – Support
- Types of support: explanation, example, statistic, expert
- Intro to research
Organizing your opinion:
- Signposts: Label your arguments
- Organizing an affirmative speech
- Simple debate introductions
- Simple debate conclusions
Refutation:
- Refuting opinions
- Type of refutation:
- Not true: never, not always, not necessarily
- True but not important: not relevant, not significant, easy to solve
- Stating a refutation
Challenging supports:
- Testing supports: no source, not enough explanation, out-of-date, questionable statistic, questionable source biased
- Stating refutation of a source
Debating your opinion:
- Debate formats (usually 3 on 3 debates)
- Responding to attacks
- Rebuttal speeches
- Taking notes
- Debate delivery
Issues:
- Debate structure
- Knowledge of the topic
- Language fluency
The Main Skills:
The three most important skills in debating are (in order of importance):
The ability to listen.
Analysing what you hear.
The ability to speak in front of people.
Quick reference of debate
- Research your motion
- Develop your arguments
- Write your speech
- Deliver your speech
Research your motion
- Don’t rush off to the library, start with what you already know about the motion.
- Analyze information and brainstorm with the group for the points
- Research a broad overview of the topic (library, the Internet)
- Look for specific information (statistics, quotations, examples from the library / the Internet, newspapers, magazines)
- Organize your thoughts
Teaching tips:
Pre-teaching activities:
- Ask the students to choose a topic of interest
- Encourage them to bring in their personal experience on the topic chosen
- Collect information on that topic
- Get them to work in small groups of 3 – 4.
- Discuss with the students WHERE and HOW they have obtained the information
- Ask them what difficulties they have encountered in the process of doing so?
- Which ways do they find convenient and useful?
- What are the limitations of getting information from the Internet?
- Does library research enable the students to find more information that is not available on the Internet?
Students’ task while researching
- Recall how you usually source materials for your projects?
- Ask yourself whether you often exploit information on the Internet, or get reading materials from the library?
- Do you just read books, or do you get information from periodicals, newspapers, etc.?
- Which of these ways do you find most helpful?
- Consider their pros and cons.
More tips for working with information.
Organizing information:
- Recording information (ice-cream effect)
- Grouping information
- Leaving irrelevant information out:
- Irrelevant details
- Boring details
- Any information you can’t verify
Develop your arguments
- Argument by generalization
- Argument by cause
- Argument by analogy
How You Convince People
- Speeches:
- Reasons:
- Examples:
Be a good listener
- Listen carefully to all the opposing arguments
- Try to grasp your opponents’ arguments
- Make convincing and persuasive responses to their attacks.
- Differentiate between major and minor issues raised by your opponents.
- Concentrate on points relating to the main line of argument.
- Remember, if you don’t listen carefully, you won’t be able to make sensible rebuttals that are essential to winning a debate.
Floor questions
The purpose of asking floor questions is not for the questioners to express their own views, but rather to seek clarification, to contradict or challenge the debaters.
Dealing with floor questions:
- From another team or from the audience;
- Short and to the point;
- Address one point only;
- The questioner can also specify a certain debater to answer his question;
- Not one and the same debater to deal with all the floor questions;
- The floor question should be phrased as a question, not in form of a statement or a speech.
How to make rebuttals:
When:
1. when the debaters take turns to deliver their speeches, they can attack another team
2. when floor questions are dealt with.
- Rebuttals should be to the point.
- They should be kept short.
- Examples and analogies are useful.
- Humor helps you gain extra mark.
- Rebuttals should be made firmly and confidently
- Anticipate possible questions before the actual debate.
Write Your Speech
The never-fail formula:
- Tell the audience what you’re going to tell them
- Tell them
- Tell them what you’ve told them
The speech:
Shaping the speech:
1. The beginning
2. The body
3. The conclusion
Increasing credability:
1. Definitions
2. Quotations
3. Statistics
Making it clear and simple:
1. No unnecessary words
2. No ambiguous language
3. No sexist, racist language
4. Polishing your speech
Making your speech powerful
- Intensity
- Style
- Humour
- Figures of speech
Speech delivery
Delivery techniques
- Voice
- Pace
- Rhythm
- Emphasis
- Body language
- Style
Practice
- Speak to yourself
- Practice in front of a mirror
- Ask your friends’ opinion
- The Voice Checklist
Student reminders
- Team members take turns
- Debates are timed
- During argument periods opponents listen and take notes
- During question prep period, prepare requests for explanations etc
- During question period go on to next request if the opponents are slow to respond.
- During refutation prep teams work alone
- During refutation period, opponents listen and take notes
- During final appeal period, review notes and prep for final speech to judge
- Final appeal points out own strengths and opponent weaknesses
- After debate judge evaluates and determines winners