ESL Debates
Debates and discussions are great techniques to improve student participation in ESL classes. They help improve students’ general communication skills and confidence. They encourage quick thinking skills and improve rebuttal skills. They also encourage listening skills.
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The Topic
The choice of topic is key to successful debates in class. The topic should be:
- relevant to your students’ age
- match their interests as far as possible
- be approachable at their language level.
It would be counterproductive and unfair, for example, to ask a group of young graduates at post beginner level to discuss the current job market. Though the topic is likely to be very close to home and they would certainly have plenty of opinions and even first hand evidence, they would not have the language to express themselves in the way adults would in their own MT. So the choice of topic could easily backfire and make them very frustrated with their own English language skills.
Knowledge Base
Choosing the right topic is not enough. Students will also need to be given the tools to carry out a debate. This means they will need to have a model to refer to and enough vocabulary to express their opinions in the right terms.
They will need to have a knowledge base of both pro and con positions. Without this, the debate would be useless. To help you can provide basic information about the topic (from newspaper articles, internet information, magazines and so on).
Rules of Engagement
Students will also need to be clear on how a balanced debate is carried out. You don’t need to turn this into a long list of does and don’ts. Just state a few basic rules of engagement and make sure everybody is clear on them from the start. Here are a few ideas:
- you must support your argument and refute your opponent's argument with logical reasoning and rebuttals by giving facts and evidence.
- you should avoid being over-emotional.
- you must dispute the facts and not attack the messenger.
Practicalities
You will also need to decide on a few practical aspects.
1. Is it going to be a general discussion or a team debate?
2. Will the debate be informal with turn taking between the pros or cons?
3. Who will speak first (pros or cons)?
4. If the whole class participates, will students take turns, raise hands, or go with the flow?
5. What will be your role as a teacher? Are you going to act as chairperson for a debate or discussion?
Before & After
Figures can help quantify the effectiveness of a debate.
Before you start the debate carry out a mini poll.
Let’s say your topic of debate is Women are worse drivers than men.
Get everybody to vote on this before the debate starts and put the results on the board.
Voting Students: 16
9 NO
5 YES
2 DON’T KNOW
At the end of the debate take a vote again to see if the arguments put forward by both sides have helped shift some beliefs.
Voting Students: 16
11 NO
5 YES
