Today’s class is the first of two debate workshops for students. But before I share the nuts and bolts of this lesson, which really don’t matter that much, I think this is a good moment to zoom out and look at the big picture.
I have two goals as a teacher. I want to make my students think. And I want to give my students opportunities to play with language in a variety of ways. That’s it. To think and to play. I have no illusions about “teaching my students English.” We don’t have time, and frankly, even if we did, that’s not how it works.
But if I can trigger my students to think – to deliberately consider new ideas and to solve problems and to look at issues from multiple perspectives, they naturally become more curious about the world. And a great way to quench their burgeoning curiosity is to participate in exchanges of verbal communication with other human beings. Or for non-aliens, TO TALK. Learning English, then, becomes just a useful tool to engage with the world. And it ceases to be a salivating monster unleashed upon them by sadistic parents, teachers, and private academy owners.
And then there’s the “play” part. When people see that word, a common association is “games”. And yes, there is a place for games in the classroom. But I’m talking about “play” in a broader sense. To try new roles and voices. To manipulate words in new ways. To see language as a constantly transforming outer space jungle gym sport court escape room swimming pool roller coaster trampoline bakery supernova of possibilities.
And, I know this is borderline blasphemy, but I want my students to have fun. Sue me. Okay, lawsuits pending, on to Debate Day 4…
Today, we inch closer toward our speaking assessment, but I am much more concerned with the process students undertake to prepare for their debates than I am about the actual debates, which will ultimately consist of students speaking for about 4 minutes each. Students will have two debates each, and everyone will have one chance to give a constructive speech and one chance to give a rebuttal speech.
I. Warm-up (5)
- On the board, write:
1. Reveal _____________ 2. Reveal _____________ 3. Build _____________ - Tell students that you are going to reveal two things today, and they are going to build something today. Take guesses.
- Finally, divulge:
1. Reveal RESOLUTIONS 2.Reveal OPPONENTS 3. Build ARGUMENTS
II. Presentation (15 min)
- Reveal 20 class resolutions to student
- Reveal resolutions one by one, and check student understanding for each.
- Tell students that if they see a resolution that they created, they should let you know so they can get a small prize for their contribution.
- *Note: Resolutions are a mix of student-made and teacher-made resolutions, chosen to both ensure students have a voice in their debate topics and also to ensure that the topics are appropriate and viable given student proficiency and very limited research/prep time.
- Hand out Resolution List and tell students you have some good news:
They don’t have to concern themselves with all 20 resolutions, just 10.
Example 2018 Debate Resolutions:Group A
- Getting married is better than living alone.
- Disney movies have a positive impact.
- Lying is bad.
- Intelligence is more useful than beauty.
- Korea is a good country.
- Winter is better than summer.
- Team sports are better than individual sports.
- All-you-can-eat restaurants are useful.
- Studying English is more important than studying math and science.
- Specialized schools (특성화고) should exist.
Group B
- Being thin is better than being chubby.
- Money is more important than love.
- Being a superhero is desirable.
- It is right to collect students’ cell phones in school.
- Eating is more important than sleeping.
- Honbap is effective.
- Living as a man is better than living as a woman.
- Facebook is a waste of time.
- Having 5 children is better than having just 1 child.
- Dogs are better pets than cats.
- Reveal debate opponents and assign pairs to either Group A or B.
- *Note: I’ve experimented with a) random pairing, b) students’ choice, and c) ability-based pairing [both c1) similar proficiency, and c2) high-low]. I can say unequivocally the best is choosing randomly (and tweaking if there are any obviously problematic duos). I’ve found that similarly proficient students get healthily competitive. And low-level students paired with high-level students rise to the occasion, often with the good-natured help from their higher-level opponent.
- An example of class pairings might be:
Group A: Student 1 vs. 11, 2 v. 12, 3 v. 13, 4 v. 14, 5 v. 15
Group B: Student 6 vs. 16, 7 v. 17, 8 v. 18, 9 v. 19, 10 v. 20
- Tell students that we will have our debates over 3 days, and that no student will debate more than one time in a day:
Day 1 – 6 debates
Day 2 – 7 debates
Day 3 – 7 debates - Hand out Debate Day – Important Info and review with students:
Procedure
I. Josh calls two students and chooses the Resolution.
II. Josh chooses who will give the Constructive Speech.
III. Constructive Speaker chooses AFF (agree) or NEG (disagree) – IMMEDIATELY.
Format
1) Constructive Speaker – 1 minute to take notes
2) Constructive Speech – 1:30-2 minutes
3) Rebuttal Speaker – 1 minute to take notes
4) Rebuttal Speech – 1:30-2 minutes
(Students not participating in the debate will complete Judge Cards immediately.)
How you will be graded
Do you use signposts / transitions?
Does your argument contain well-explained reasons with proper English?
Did you speak for the correct amount of time and with good pace?
Was your voice loud enough to hear in the back of the room?
__________________________________________________________
Example Phrases
1. Constructive Speech (first speaker)
Signposts:
“I agree. / I disagree with the resolution.”
“Bicycles are a better form of transportation than cars for # main reason(s).”
2. Rebuttal Speech (second speaker)
Signposts:
“I disagree. / I have a different view.”
“Cars are a better form of transportation than bicycles for # main reason(s).”
3. Both speeches (1 and 2)
Transitions:
First, Second, Third, etc.
Next, Also, In addition, etc.
Finally, Lastly, etc.
Conclusions:
“And for those reasons, you must vote for me today.”
“And that’s why bicycles are definitely a better form of
transportation than cars.”
III. Production (30 mins)
- Have students move to sit next to their debate opponent, and tell them: “PLEASE, CHEAT!“
- This is the students’ opportunity to talk to their opponent and decide, BEFORE THE DEBATES, which side of each argument they will take. That way, they only have to prepare for their side.
- Students should go through each resolution in their list and determine who will be AFF and who will be NEG.
- Watching students argue about what they will argue about is a meta good time.
- Hand out some Argument Creation pages and dictionaries to each pair, and have them start to build their arguments for the remainder of class. Encourage them to work with their opponent, as “winning the debate” is not really the point.
- Students should aim for 3 good reasons for each of their arguments
- The boxes on the Argument Creation page are small intentionally. Students should use keywords to outline their arguments, not try to write their whole speech exactly.
- Circulate and converse with students about potentially troublesome resolutions and tell them we will have one more workshop next class to finish building arguments before our debates begin.
Materials:
– Debate Resolutions
– Debate Day – Important Info
– Argument Creation
– Dictionaries
*This is Day 4 of an 8-lesson series called “How I Teach Debate to English Learners”.
Busan Teacher 