DEBATING MADE EASY

A good debater can debate both sides.

By Alfred A. Dizon, Jr.
INTRODUCTION:
Debate is an excellent activity for language learning because it engages students in a
variety of cognitive and linguistic ways. With practice, many students show obvious
progress in their ability to express and defend ideas in debate and they often quickly
recognize the flaws in each others arguments, oh, and yeah, its fun!
So what is debate? Nisbett (2003) said that it is a kind of contest where you must
support your argument and refute your opponents argument with logical reasoning and
rebuttals by giving facts and evidence. From that premise alone, Id say that debate can
be had in many ways, the obvious would be oral whereas debates can also be had
through written.
In a debate class, whether it is a one-on-one or group activity, what the student
needs to learn is not really the kind of debate that they will be entering into or the
procedure they will follow if they ever get involved in a debate contest, and not even just
merely how to answer questions or give ideas. What is essential in a debate class is for
the student to know how to logically provide complete and strong arguments,
destructive questions that will make the opposing team falter, and develop high
cognitive attentive and listening skills the purpose of which is to generate winning
questions during cross-examinations or interpolations and convincing rebuttals to
counter each and every single argument the opposing team may ever give during the
debate.

ADJ 2015

Page 1

LET US
DEBATE!
THE DEBATE CLASS
AN OVERVIEW:
In all encompassing, the student needs to make the best case out of the position that
he/she may be given in a debate class. Further, I would like to stress that during the
debate class, compliance to the argumentation patterns that will be discussed later is a
must.
The figure below shows the essential skills to be developed in a debate class.

LISTENING
READING
THINKING
AND WRITING

ADJ 2015

Page 2

As shown from the figure above, the ability to improve reading, writing, listening
skills; enhancement of argumentation skills; experience in persuasive writing and
speaking; -- all these are important skills the ESL student will experience during the
debate class.

ADJ 2015

Page 3

MECHANICS:
As mentioned in the introduction, no format is required in a debate class.
However, to have a uniform one-on-one debate class, I picked out the essential
procedures from a Parliamentary Type debate and merged it into a Lincoln-Douglas
Debate type. The mechanics are as follows:
_______________________
INTRODUCTION
Resolution
Note: It is up to the teacher whether the student will be given a day to research
about the resolution.
1ACS

First Affirmative Constructive Speech

( 5 minutes )

2NCS

First Negative Constructive Speech

( 5 minutes )

2ARS

Second Affirmative Rebuttal Speech

( 5 minutes )

2NRS

Second Negative Rebuttal Speech

( 5 minutes )

Note: The time limit depends on the level of the student:

Beginner:

8 minutes

Intermediate: 5 minutes
Advanced:

3 minutes

-------From this point foward, it is again the teachers discretion whether the class will proceed
to the final stage of the debate:

ADJ 2015

Page 4

3AFS

Third Affirmative Final Speech

( 5 minutes )

3NFS

Third Negative Final Speech

( 5 minutes )

PROCEDURE:
I.

THE RESOLUTION

Before we go into the introductory part, the student must be able to generate his own
resolution in not exceeding (5 minutes). Normally, a good resolution follows a
categorical question.
i.e.
Should Speak English Academy students including the manager speak English always
during or even without classes? Y/N
Note:
It is advisable that errors in grammar, speech, and pronunciation committed by
the student during class must be remedied upon in no less than a minute. Debate
class time must be used effectively for expedient and effective results.
The resolution is the subject matter, the topic, the issue, the point, the opinion,
the proposal, and the question that needs to be resolved by two opposing teams, the
negative and the positive. From this point, the resolution must ALWAYS be generated by
the student and all the teacher does is comment whether or not to accept it as the
primary concern of the debate. The teacher could either let the student think of his own
resolution or get an idea from the debate book provided.
A categorical question is a question that is always answered by either a yes or a
no regardless if such an answer has a support or none. On the other hand, a qualifying
question is similar to that of a categorical question, the underlying distinction is that for a
ADJ 2015

Page 5

question to be qualifying, the answer to such a question is supported by a positive

statement or is conditioned upon another premise that is usually in the negative.
i.e.
Q:

Should Ray marry Anika?

A:

Yes / No

On that example alone, the question is a categorical one if the student answered
merely answered yes or no.
Q:

Should Ray marry Anika?

A:

Yes, however Anika doesnt want to be married to Ray.

A:

Yes, however Ray must be able to speak English very well before he can

marry Anika.
The question now is a qualifying one since the answers are qualified by a
negative statement and a condition.
II.

THE INTRODUCTION
For the introductory part, this is the start of the debate class after the student

came up with a resolution, the teacher decides whether to accept the resolution or let
the student make another resolution. The teacher should be able to explain to the
student what a good resolution is, what a categorical question and a qualifying question
is.
WHAT IS AN ARGUMENT?
Most books will tell you that an argument is your opinion about a particular
subject. Some say that an argument is your reason supporting your position. To my
mind, an argument is a simple statement supporting your position and to elaborate
ADJ 2015

Page 6

further, Id say that an argument may be described as either complete or incomplete. A

complete argument generally contains all the essential elements of a complete
argument. If your argument is complete in all aspects, then such an argument is very
strong, very convincing, very clear, and very terrifying for the opposing team.
Let us discuss what a complete argument is. A complete argument, as
mentioned, has three essential parts, the argument, the reason, and the evidence.

Argume
nt
Position
Stand
Reason
Connection

A WINNING
ARGUMENT

Evidenc
e
Basis
Support

A COMPLETE
ARGUMENT
A DESTRUCTIVE

You might be wondering why an argument is not the same as the reason. Let me
explain by giving an example:
________________________
Resolution:
Whether or not learning English is pointless

ADJ 2015

Page 7

Complete Argument:
Learning English is not pointless because you need English to communicate with
people from other countries. Communicating with people from other countries is
essential to navigate on the internet and for international business. Everyone would
agree that if you cant speak English, you wouldnt be able to traverse the magnificence
that the world has to offer. Furthermore, statistics will tell us that the number of people
speaking English is increasing day by day.
The Argument:
Learning English is not pointless because you need English to communicate with
people from other countries.
The Reason:
Communicating with people from other countries is essential to navigate on the internet
and for international business.
The Evidence(s):
Everyone would agree that if you cant speak English, you wouldnt be able to traverse
the magnificence that the world has to offer. Furthermore, statistics will tell us that the
number of people speaking English is increasing day by day.

ADJ 2015

Page 8

Argume
nt
Reason
Evidenc
e

Reason
Evidenc
e

Evidenc
e

Supporting your position in a debate activity happens when you are able to make
two or more complete arguments. A complete argument can have two or more reasons
and for each reason, two or more evidences may be had. The teacher should be able to
explain the RELEVANCY or DIRECT AND CLEAR CONNECTION between the
argument, the reason, and the evidence to make out a strong and convincing complete
argument.
THE REASON
The reason or connection is that statement that supports the argument. There
may be two or more reasons but the same reasons should only be supporting at least
ADJ 2015

Page 9

one argument. It is essential to make the student realize that there must be a direct
connection between the reason and the argument.

III.

THE EVIDENCE:

The evidence can be broken down into four categories:

1. Generally accepted facts
2. Expert Opinion
3. Statistics or survey
4. Example
So what are generally accepted facts? These are things that you believe
everybody knows. To state it otherwise, these are things accepted by our common
senses that normally you wouldnt say that its false because most people would agree
to it. The statement is usually stated by saying everyone knows, ifthen, its common
knowledge that.
i.e.
R: Should Kevin marry Sophie?
A: Kevin loves Sophie and its common knowledge that if you love a person, youd
marry that person.

ADJ 2015

Page 10

Expert Opinions are the opinions of experts, of course these comes from
research. You normally state an expert opinion by saying according to, to quote, the
book ______ says.
i.e.
R: Aiden is giving flowers to Michelle every day, should that be considered as a
sign that Aiden loves Michelle?
A: Yes, according to the National Love Institute, giving flowers to a person every
day is proof that you are in love to that person.
Statistics or survey are data supported by numbers, these also comes from
research.
i.e.
R: Is secondhand smoke dangerous to your health?
A: Yes, secondhand smoke causes about 250,000 respiratory infections in infants
and children every year, resulting in about 15,000 hospitalizations each year.

IV.

THE CONSTRUCTIVE SPEECH

During this stage, the teacher either lets the student writes down his own

Complete arguments on his notebook. The student should be able to provide at least
three and not exceeding ten arguments for the negative team and the positive team.
Having a lot of arguments would only delay the class from proceeding to the next stage.
Making the student generate positive and negative arguments develops his critical
thinking skills in determining what the opposing team may use during the debate.

ADJ 2015

Page 11

If time is not enough, the process of generating complete arguments may be

given to the student as homework. If there is plenty of time, the student must generate
at least three (3) complete negative or positive arguments within the time provided for
by the teacher. After the student wrote down all his arguments, the student must deliver
his speech in spoken language within the time provided. The student must be able to
show an appearance that is formal and proper in the process of delivering his speech.
Good composure, great eye contact with the audience (teacher), good pronunciation,
and calm but strong impression must be shown by the student during his speech time.
Thereafter, the teacher will be teaching the student proper techniques of how
arguments are written down to make the student get a good grasp of his arguments
within the time provided.
On another note, while the student is delivering his Constructive Speech, the
student must also be taking down notes in preparation for the rebuttal stage.
In addition, the process of cross examination may of course be dispensed with
while the student is delivering his speech.
Depending on the students position, the teacher delivers his constructive speech
before or after the student delivers his speech. While the teacher is delivering his
speech, the student should be taking down notes in preparation for the rebuttal stage.
The process of taking down notes enhances the students capability to listen attentively
and critically think of key points he/she may use in his rebuttal.
___________________
ILLUSTRATION:
Student is given a position.
FIRST TEN MINUTES (may be extended depending upon attendant circumstances)
ADJ 2015

Page 12

Student = generates arguments

Teacher = generates arguments
ONE MINUTE GRACE PERIOD
CONSTRUCTIVE SPEECH
FIRST 3 / 5 / 8 MINUTES
Student = delivers first constructive affirmative speech
Teacher = takes down notes
or
Teacher = delivers first constructive affirmative speech
Student = takes down notes
SECOND 3 / 5 / 8 MINUTES
Student = delivers constructive negative speech
Teacher = takes down notes
or
Teacher = delivers constructive negative speech
Student = takes down notes
CROSS EXAMINATION IS DISPENSED WITH DURING THIS STAGE
FIVE TO TEN MINUTES TO GIVE COMMENTS ABOUT THE SPEECH OF THE
STUDENT
___________________

ADJ 2015

Page 13

Note: How good the arguments generated by the student depends whether such
preparation is done during class or as homework. If the process of generating
arguments is given as homework, the student develops his research skills.
However, if the arguments are generated within the time provided for during
class, the student develops critical cognitive skills.

V.

THE REBUTTAL SPEECH

Rebuttal speeches are one of the last speeches in a debate. A rebuttal speech is an
important part of debate. If well written, it is a powerful tool, because it devalues your
opponent's arguments while reinforcing your stance on the chosen issue.
During this stage, just right after the last speaker sat down, the rebuttal speaker
for the opposing side delivers his speech within the time provided. For example, if the
last constructive negative speaker is the student, the teacher will be delivering his
rebuttal positive speech and vice versa. Remember, during this stage, cross
examination may be had while the speaker is delivering his speech.

HOW TO PREPARE A DESTRUCTIVE REBUTTAL SPEECH

First, THINK ABOUT YOUR SIDE. Compare your position to your opponent's position.
For example, "We are for single-sex schools; they are opposed to them."
Second, FIND THE ARGUMENTS THAT SUPPORT YOUR SIDE. Identify three
or four key arguments that support your position. For example, "We are showing singlesex schools help girls learn more; Single sex schools prevent harassment against girls."
Third, IDENTIFY ANY OPPOSING ARGUMENTS THAT MIGHT DEFEAT YOU.
Look at your flow, think about what the opposing team appears to be winning. For
ADJ 2015

Page 14

example, "Hmm, they are showing that single-sex schools reinforce gender segregation
in society." NOW, THINK HOW YOUR ARGUMENTS DEFEAT THIS ARGUMENT. For
example, "We showed single-sex schools help girls and thereby break barriers in
society."
PRESENT THE REBUTTAL
Begin by IDENTIFYING THE CHOICE FOR THE JUDGE(imaginary). "This
debate boils down to, do you give students a choice to go to single-sex schools or do
you stop that choice."
Then, LIST OUT EACH OF MAIN REASONS TO SUPPORT YOUR SIDE.
Present your reasons, follow it with an explanation and supporting arguments. After this,
respond to any opposing arguments that might undermine your argument. Then, sum
up and explain why this reason is a voting issue for you. For example, "The first reason
to vote government is that single-sex schools stop harassment. Harassment is a
serious problem--the opposition has conceded that girls are sexually harassed,
touched inappropriately, even raped. Single-sex schools stop this harassment
because the environment changes and there isn't the opportunity to harass. That is a
fact. Now, the opposition wants to argue the harassment would just happen out of
school. First, that concedes that we do stop the harassment in the school and that is a
worthwhile achievement. Second, as we argued, women speak out and empower
themselves in single-sex schools and that encourages change in our society to reduce
the attitudes that contribute to harassment. In sum, our proposal puts a dent in
harassment especially in schools and that justifies a government ballot."
Conclude the speech, requesting that the judge(imaginary) vote for your side.
Note: Rebuttal speeches MUST be prepared and delivered during class time.
Skills being developed during the rebuttal stage are listening, writing, and critical
cognitive skills so the student must be able to generate his own rebuttal
speeches during class. Rebuttals must never be given as part of the students
homework.
ADJ 2015

Page 15

After both sides have presented their rebuttal speeches, the teacher may decide
whether to proceed to the final stage or not.

__________________
ILLUSTRATION:
ONE MINUTE GRACE PERIOD AFTER THE LAST SPEAKER DELIVERED HIS CS
REBUTTAL SPEECH
FIRST 3 / 5 / 8 MINUTES
Student = delivers first rebuttal affirmative speech
Teacher = takes down notes
or
Teacher = delivers first rebuttal affirmative speech
Student = takes down notes
SECOND 3 / 5 / 8 MINUTES
Student = delivers rebuttal negative speech
Teacher = takes down notes
or
ADJ 2015

Page 16

Teacher = delivers rebuttal negative speech

Student = takes down notes
CROSS EXAMINATION IS DISPENSED WITH DURING THIS STAGE
FIVE TO TEN MINUTES TO GIVE COMMENTS ABOUT THE SPEECH OF THE
STUDENT
___________________
VI.

THE FINAL STAGE

From this point on, each debater presents their final speech. The final speech

must not be stating the same arguments garnered from the constructive and rebuttal
speeches. The final speech answers unanswered questions from each opposing team
during the previous two stages of the debate. The final speech makes out a summary of
all the arguments of both sides of the debate. Finally, The final speech is the speech
that would entail strong emotions to convince the judges(imaginary) or audience to vote
for his side.
Same procedure is followed, the affirmative delivers his final speech followed by
the negative.
Note: No cross examination is allowed beyond this point.
DISCUSSION:
After the Debate activity, the teacher then discusses to the student his flawed
arguments, which arguments are strong and which are not, and how the arguments
should have been written, organized, and written.
OUTPUT:
After the debate activity has been concluded, the is given 2 or 3 days to submit a
debate case output summarizing all the arguments.

ADJ 2015

Page 17

Output format below:

RESOLUTION
________________________________
INTRODUCTION:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
1CAS: (complete)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
(cross-examination questions and answers if any) ______________________________
1CNS: (complete)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
(cross-examination questions and answers if any) ______________________________
2RAS: (complete)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
(cross-examination questions and answers if any) ______________________________
2RNS: (complete)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

ADJ 2015

Page 18

3AFS: (complete)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
3NFS: (complete)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

ADJ 2015

Page 19