A suggested scheme of work for Learning English through Debating
7. Students should be encouraged to keep a folder for this module which will serve as a record of
their learning. The folder may comprise all the assignments the students have done for the module, both oral and written. Students are also encouraged to reflect on and monitor their own learning process, and teachers should provide them with feedback and assistance where necessary.
Suggestions on how to cater for students with different needs and paces of learning are indicated by
* in the Remarks column.
Sections which are marked with # in the Focus column contain activities which are either more
demanding or are intended to further enrich students' learning experience. Teachers should use
their discretion as to whether to include or skip these sections, or to replace them with other
appropriate learning activities, based on students' needs and abilities.
(This is a blank page.)
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities Part 1:
Introduction
9 periods Lessons 1-9 Understanding
the
fundamental idea of debating
3 periods Lessons 1-3
Students are able to:
• understand that argument is the fundamental idea of debating
• understand the importance of substantiating an argument in order to convince people
• exercise judgement, express and explain debatable opinions
Students are given controversial topics (e.g.
slimming, part-time jobs) to present their views on briefly.
Students are then given texts on one of these topics. In groups, they read, identify, analyse and discuss the arguments and evidence presented, and decide which side of the argument they are more convinced by.
Students then speak to the class in an opinionated way on the topic. The teacher makes sure that both sides of the argument/
opposing views are represented.
The teacher makes use of what students have been engaged in to explain the basic idea of debating and introduces to them what the module will cover.
#Introducing the idea of rhetoric
3 periods Lessons 7-9
Students are able to:
• demonstrate knowledge about rhetoric
• gain a brief introduction to good speeches
• identify strategies used by good speakers
• use some rhetorical strategies
The teacher presents students with examples/extracts of good persuasive speeches, drawing their attention to strategies such as:
• phrasing
• repetition
• rhetorical questions
• metaphor and imagery
In groups, students work on a famous speech, identifying the rhetorical strategies used and discussing the effectiveness of the strategies.
Eliciting, confirming and establishing knowledge about debating
3 periods Lessons 4-6
Students are able to:
• demonstrate
knowledge of the set up, rules and procedure of debating
• understand the role of each speaker in a debate
• gain control over the vocabulary/terminology of debating
• understand what debating is
Students search the Web or watch video clips of debates to identify debating rules, set up and procedures. This will include matters such as:
• the two sides in a debate
• motion/resolution
• overall team responsibility
• number of speakers per side
• individual speakers' roles
• argument and rebuttal
• length of speeches
• points of information
• roles of adjudicator, chairperson, timekeeper and audience Students share knowledge of debate procedures by completing handouts, and answering and asking questions.
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks
A list of controversial topics and selected texts related to the topics
Notes on presenting one's opinions in public
Notes on what debating is
Various tasks are suggested in the course of the module. Some of these tasks will be done on an individual basis and others with partners.
These works can be kept in a folder. The folder may contain audio and video material in addition to written assignments.
Teachers might like to tell students that while the module will cover the format and rules of debating and engage them in taking part in a debate towards the end, its principal aim is to develop their skills in argumentation and presentation.
These lessons aim to introduce students to the basic elements of debating through making use of an argument.
There is no need to restrict the activities to any debating formats.
(*Throughout this scheme the level of difficulty can in part be controlled by the choice of debating formats, topics, motions and examples.
Teachers may ask students to conduct formal debates, present them with more challenging debate motions, and encourage them to search for different views and arguments on a topic instead of providing them with the texts for input.
Alternatively, they may ask them to carry out discussions or less formal debates, and to consider topics which are more closely related to their everyday life, such as discussing their favourite TV programme/movie and justifying their
preferences.)
^A handout on rhetoric The short speech can be placed in the folder.
(*Teachers may further extend the more able students by encouraging them to work on famous speeches at various websites, e.g.
http://www.ryanandassociates.com.au/speeches.htm http://www.historychannel.com/speeches
They can focus on more rhetorical strategies such as:
• parallelism
• analogy
• humour
• irony)
If self-access facilities are available in the school, the
^Handouts on:
• the two sides in a debate
• rules of debating
• score sheet Handouts on:
• debating terms/
who is involved in a debate
• room
arrangement for a debate A handout with a written summary of a debate
Students' work on debating rules and procedures can be placed in the folder.
There are some resources on debating on the following websites:
http://www.hkedcity.net/article/edcity-news-archive/
ec-debate/
http://www.hkedcity.net/article/debate/home/
http://www.cambridge-union.org/
http://www.oxford-union.org/
The last two websites above contain resources for the more able learners.
There are also books on debating, e.g.
• Sather, T. (1999). Pros and Cons: A Debater's Handbook. London: Routledge.
• Bauer, O.F. (1999). Fundamentals of Debate, Theory and Practice. Omaha, Nebraska: Rockbrook Press.
• Philips, L., Hicks, W.S., Springer, D.R., & Fryar, M. (2001).
Basic Debate. New York: Glencoe/McGrawHill.
(*For the less able students, teachers might like to leave out points of information at this stage.)
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities
Students write a short speech using some rhetorical strategies they have learned.
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks
following material can be provided for students who want to improve their speaking skills:
• the cinema genre of court room dramas (To Kill a Mockingbird, Murder in the First, Amistad, etc.) or political dramas that build up to inspiring speeches (Mr Smith Goes to Washington is a classic example)
• Oberg, B. (1995). Forensics: the Winner's Guide to Speech Contests. Colorado Springs: Meriwether.
The rhetorical devices included in the Teaching Resources are only some of the commonly used ones and not meant to be exhaustive. Teachers might like to refer to the following websites for details about rhetoric:
http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric.htm
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/rhetoricaldevicesinsound.
htm
Teachers can also find famous as well as movie speeches from relevant websites such as:
http://www.famousquotes.me.uk/speeches/index.htm http://www.americanrhetoric.com/moviespeeches.htm
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities Part 2:
Sub-skills
31 periods Lessons 10-40 Motions:
Considering different ways to classify motions and clarify terms
2 periods Lessons 10-11
Students are able to:
• understand that different types of opinions need different sorts of support and argumentation
• demonstrate awareness of ambiguity
• develop critical thinking
Students are given some debate motions and are asked to do the following:
• Identify which ones are about comparing two opposing views and which ones indicate that some action needs to be taken in order to solve a particular problem.
• Explain what the clash would be and how Proposition and Opposition could argue for their side.
Students are given some motions with ambiguous terms and are asked to discuss their meanings and how they would want to limit or control the topic.
Motions:
Looking for underlying principles in motions
3 periods Lessons 12-14
Students are able to:
• identify underlying principles
• understand the
implications of positions they take
• think critically
The teacher takes students through a couple of motions that refer to specific situations but illustrate more general positions.
In groups, students discuss some motions in terms of:
• the principles supporting them
• the extent to which those principles are acceptable to the group
• the possible opposing principles Students are given two motions, each with an accompanying set of principles. They discuss and decide which principles apply to each motion.
#Motions:
Identifying the issues and working on
"judgement" and
"change"
motions
3 periods Lessons 15-17
Students are able to:
• define a motion
• focus a debate on a single issue or problem
• develop critical thinking
Students are given a "judgement" motion and are asked to discuss the principles, the clash and the ways to define it.
Students are given a "change" motion and are asked to discuss the issue, the problem and the solution.
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks
^A handout on classifying motions and clarifying their terms
^Handouts on:
• types of motions
• good and bad motions
• roles of
Proposition and Opposition in defining the motion
• finding the appropriate level of generality
Observation of the students' level of participation
The extra task suggested in the Remarks column would provide more material for the folder.
To engage students and create a language-rich lesson, teachers will probably want students to work in pairs on these tasks.
A glance at a current issue of the newspaper can inspire one with ideas for many motions. Ideas can also be gained from:
http://www.aph.gov.au/library/intguide/sci/
http://infodome.sdsu.edu/research/guides/hot/supersites.
shtml
(*The more able students can be asked to do an extra task of suggesting some good debate topics and writing motions for them.)
(*For the less able students, teachers may have them examine and discuss real life situations instead of debate motions.)
^A handout on underlying principles in motions
Observation of the students' level of participation
(*The more able students can be encouraged to discuss current affairs or historical events, focussing on:
• what underlying principles motivated the various actions and events
• what groups or personalities espoused which principles
• who won and who lost in the course of the events and why)
(*To achieve the same purposes, teachers may get the less able students to work on real life situations. Here are two examples:
• Your Principal is seeking students' opinion as to whether the school should accept a big sponsorship from a soft drink company for setting up a scholarship for the poor students and let the company promote their unhealthy soft drinks in the school. How would you advise your Principal and why?
• When you find out that your younger sister, who is always on the computer, has been saying in some chat rooms that she's been taking soft drugs, she says she's just making things up and asks you not to tell your parents. How should you decide and why?
Such an approach, if adopted, will replace the suggested activities on analysing debate motions in Lessons 12-17.)
^Handouts on working on
"judgement" and
"change" motions A handout on defining motions and
identifying the issues
Observation of the students' level of participation
"Change" debates refer to those in which the motion states that an action would or should be taken. "Judgement"
debates refer to those in which the motion requires teams to take up opposite positions on an issue of principle. The use of such terminology in teaching is at the teacher's discretion.
The purpose of the lessons is to help students to analyse motions systematically.
It might be worth pointing out that where there is no
significant ambiguity, there is no need to waste time defining terms.
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities Persuasion:
Analysing persuasive language and its underlying techniques
4 periods Lessons 18-21
Students are able to:
• understand methods of persuasion
• use methods of persuasion
• categorise different types of argument
• resist persuasion
Students are asked to bring advertisements to class. In pairs/groups, they discuss and draw up a list of strategies of persuasion.
Students discuss and draw up a list of emotional, rational and ethical arguments for and against anti-smoking legislation.
#Logical argumentation
2 periods Lessons 22-23
Students are able to:
• understand methods of reasoning
• spot poor reasoning and fallacies
The teacher introduces some logical terms and methods of reasoning, including:
• deduction
• induction
• implication
• begging the question/loaded language/circular argumentation
• false dilemmas
• polar thinking
• confusing sequence with causation
• misuse of statistics
• overgeneralisation
• false analogy
• red herrings
• straw man/Aunt Sally
Students are given a number of faulty arguments and are asked to spot the errors of logic.
Rebuttal and researching information Rebuttal:
Anticipation and consideration of the opposition's likely moves Researching for and carrying out a mini-debate
8 periods Lessons 24-31
Students are able to:
• develop critical thinking
• develop the ability to see another point of view
• find information on a topic using different sources
• decide what information is relevant to a debate
• develop the ability to formulate arguments
• develop the ability to give short persuasive speeches on a topic
Students work on different ways to rebut opposite arguments:
• anticipation
• concession
• mockery
• ad hominem arguments
• redefinition
• bluster
• ways of seizing the initiative from the opposition
Students are given three debate topics and asked to research them. The information gathered will be used in preparation for the rebuttal activity and the mini-debate that follow.
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks Advertisements for
illustrating persuasive language
^A handout on persuasive techniques
The lists of arguments can be placed in the folder.
(*Note that the terms in which ideas in the scheme are presented can vary greatly and be adapted to the different levels of learners. Many students would be intimidated by
"emotional, rational and ethical arguments". They should, however, have little difficulty in seeing that one can argue in terms of feeling, facts and figures, and rights and wrongs. For example, in discussing whether to allow smoking in bars one can rage about how disgusting it is having to breathe smelly smoke, argue coolly about profits, losses and the effect on employment, or discuss the rights of smokers to their legal habit and of non-smokers to clean air. Expressed like this the topic becomes approachable and suitable for a wider range of learners.
For the less able students, teachers might like to focus on specific persuasive strategies instead of the full range as suggested in the Teaching Resources.)
^A handout on logical terms and fallacies
It is not intended that the analysis of logical fallacies become too technical. Examples can be very simple.
Teachers might like to refer to the following websites for details about reasoning and fallacies:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_reasoning http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~janzb/reasoning/
http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/
(*The more able students should be encouraged to proceed further. They can be introduced to books with examples of false logic and argument, e.g. Damer, T.E. (2001). Attacking Faulty Reasoning: A Practical Guide to Fallacy-Free Arguments. Belmont: Wadsworth.)
(*For the less able students, teachers might like to focus on a few of the more common methods of reasoning (e.g.
deduction, induction) and examples of faulty argument (e.g.
misuse of statistics, over-generalisation).)
^A handout on rebuttal and researching for a debate
^A handout on using rebuttal in debate speeches A mini-debate feedback form
Observation of students' level of participation Peer and/or teacher assessment of the mini-debate
Students' work on rebuttal can be included in the folder.
For research purposes, the websites introduced in Lessons 10-11 may be useful.
Students should be encouraged to look critically for relevant facts, definitions of key terms and good quotations to support the arguments they use in formulating arguments and in carrying out the mini-debate.
(*Activity for the more able students: The teacher announces a topic for debate. Students are then given a day or two to research the debate topic. On the day of the debate, students are presented with two substantive speeches which have been prepared specifically for the debate. Each of them is then called up to deliver an argument, alternately in proposition and opposition, in rebuttal to one of the
substantive speeches. As this continues, speakers may also rebut a previous rebuttal speech (which happens all the time in debates). The activity continues until all arguments have been exhausted.)
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities Students are asked to form groups of six.
Each group, divided into the proposition team and the opposition team, is assigned a debate topic they have researched. The teams in each group formulate arguments in support of their position and guess the arguments their opponents would use and then think of ways to rebut or damage them.
They can then compare notes and see if they predicted correctly and whether their opponents think their arguments would be damaged by the strategies suggested.
Mini-debate: Each group is assigned another debate topic they have researched.
Members from each team present their arguments within their groups, rebutting the opposing team's arguments, as far as possible. The mini-debate will go on until all the arguments are exhausted.
Speech structure and construction
5 periods Lessons 32-36
Students are able to:
• write and make a debate speech
• use language items related to speech organisation
The teacher gives students details of the final debates, such as the debate timetable, which groups they belong to, the rules and the topics. He/She answers any questions that students may have.
The teacher highlights matters students need to pay attention to when organising debate speeches, such as
• introductions
• topic sentences
• sign-posting
• general points
• examples/evidence
• connectives
• concessions
• summaries
The teacher introduces students to some key phrases they may use for
• introducing the motion
• defining the motion
• allocating the arguments
• presenting the team's arguments
• attacking the other team's arguments
• reviewing the arguments
• summarising and concluding Students are given a speech without topic sentences, connectives, etc. and are asked to complete/improve it.
Students assemble a jumbled list of points for a debate speech into a coherent whole.
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks
(*For the less able students, the rules of the mini-debate can be modified. Instead of having students present arguments on one topic in their own group, teachers may divide the class into two groups. When a topic is called out, students in each group are free to discuss with each other and anyone in the group may volunteer to argue about it.
Again, the less able students do not need to be introduced to difficult terminology; the point is to introduce the strategy. For instance, the strategy of "concession" can be illustrated by this example: "We agree fast food is bad for you. We do not want to argue about that, but we do not think that is good enough reason to ban it.")
A handout detailing the arrangements for the final debate
^A handout on structuring a speech
^A handout on key debating phrases
Students' work on structuring a speech can be added to the folder.
The details of the final debate depend on a number of factors.
Whether it should be a competition or a series of separate debates, how much time each speaker has and other administrative details will largely depend on the ability and preference of the class as well as the format of the debate.
For example, students may carry out formal debates in teams of three and there may be questions from the floor, or they may be engaged in a less formal debate between two big groups where the rules are more relaxed and there are more opportunities for the group members to support each other.
The important thing is that everyone should be given the chance to make a debate speech.
If the less formal way of debating is to be adopted, teachers may need to exercise their discretion as to how the lessons on "Team work" (Lessons 37-38) should be adapted. To prepare students for a debate between two big groups of a class, the teacher might like to build team work by
encouraging students to work out arguments and strategies together, supplement what a teammate has said and generally help each other in a more relaxed way than in a formal debate.
Another suggestion in line with passing learning into the hands of students is to ask a committee of the class to organise the debate and set the rules.
(*Teachers may need to give extra instruction and practice on matters such as introducing or summarising a debate speech and using topic sentences, connectives and examples, depending on their judgement of the students' abilities and previous knowledge.)