Rwandz Private Technical

Institute Department: English

Academic Debate

Name: Jayran Salim Asaad

Instructor: Mokhles S. Ibrahim

Academic Year: 2019-2020

Submitted In: 2020/6/15

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 Abstract

This text is a brief introduction to formal debate. One of the important topics we've studied in
our Institute this year. When you read my paper you understand what debate is and you'll be
familiar with Academic debate. By the end of the report, you will have learned to prepare for
and engage in a formal debate. At the same time, those concepts and skills learned in here, are
more widely applicable to a variety of communication situations when readers try to critically
examine controversial issues and find better ways to defend their opinion developed through
critical examination. This introductory tries to define debate, introducing a special kind of debate
called “Academic Debate”.

Some of the rules and principles in this text are based on a particular style of Academic Debate,
in which a specific topic for debate is announced well before the debate round and debaters are
allowed to read manuscripts and quotations in speeches. If you are to practice a different style of
debate, you should adjust accordingly. Still most of the principles and skills discussed here will
be applicable to any kind of debate and more broadly to many other communication situations.
Whether you may actually practice Academic Debate or not, it will be a great asset for you to
develop the skills and attitudes in critical thinking and strategic communication outlined in this
text.

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 List of Contents

Abstract: ….…………………………………………………….. 2

List of Contents: ………………………………………………………………………..3

Introduction: …………………………………………………………………………4

Main body: …………………………………………………………………………….5-6

Discussion: …………………………………………………………………………….7

Conclusion: ……………………………………………………………………………8

References: …………………………………………………………………………..9

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Introduction
Normally to make you understand and get to know what debate is, we're going to start with a
simple question, as: What is Debate?
Debate is a communication process in which participants argue for and against a given topic.
There are many kinds of debate. Typical real-world debates may be found in a law court and a
legislative assembly such as a parliament, congress, or diet.
Some people think of a business meeting. An employee proposes a new marketing plan but
another opposes it. You and your friend may have an informal debate. You are talking about a
plan for the coming long weekend. You suggest a trip to a spa resort but your friend disagrees.
You can also debate by yourself. You are trying to make a future plan. “Do I want to go to a
graduate school or to find a job in a company?” You consider good points and bad points about
those two future plans. All these are daily examples of debate.
There are many reasons why people debate. The most important reason is to make the best
possible decision regarding an opinion. How can we arrive at the best decision? We want to hear
the best possible defense of the opinion and best possible attack against the opinion before we
decide. If someone tries his best to find reasons for the opinion and another tries her best to find
reasons against the opinion, we will be able to hear enough information to make our decision. If
they try to attack and defend each other’s arguments, we will be able to hear better reasons for
our decision.
*What is Academic Debate?
When you are using this report at home or in class, you will see debate as educational exercise.
This is called Academic or Educational Debate. Academic Debate is different from debate in the
real world like the above debate in the town meeting. In the real-world debate, the purpose is
often to decide the future plan of the participants. In Academic Debate, the primary purpose is
educational training. Suppose we have a debate in this class on whether we should build an
atomic plant in our town. Even if we decide to build it, it will not actually be built. There are
several characteristics of Academic Debate for maximizing its educational benefits. There are
strict rules of speaking in terms of time, order, the use of evidence, etc. Judges often give
criticism and advice for arguments regarding both contents and skills, as well as making a
decision. Academic Debate is offered as one type of speech course at colleges and institutes also
in high schools in some countries, where students are taught how to debate. It is also popular in
extracurricular activities and there are local and national level competitions.

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Main body

Obviously a debate as a verbal communication event is primarily conducted between two

matched sides which are represented by two teams: the “affirmative” side to support the topic
and the “negative” side to oppose the topic. The topic for debate is officially called the
“proposition” or “resolution” (or sometimes called a “motion”). In classroom debates, students
either sign up for those teams or the instructor may assign them to each group. In tournaments
and contests, the participating teams consist of the same number of people and each team
usually stands at least once on the affirmative side and once on the negative side. The speakers
(debaters) from the two teams in a debate then give speeches for and against the topic or them
give pros and cons of the questions under debate. They take turns giving speeches to support
their position. In some formats, they ask the other team questions after a speech (called “cross-
examination”). In this sense, they communicate with each other. The two teams not only
communicate with each other but also communicate with a third party. In many cases, the
debate is presented in front of an “audience”. The affirmative and the negative teams try their
best to persuade the audience to believe their side. There are also special kinds of audience,
“judges” or “critics” (or “adjudicators”). The audience may give their decision at the end of the
debate. Judges and critics also sometimes give comments and advice so that debaters can
improve their analyses or speeches.

PROPOSITION

AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE

AUDIENCE

Figure 1. Communication Setting for Academic Debate

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*Format of Academic Debate:

Academic Debate allows a variety of formats (such as the length and number of speeches).
The important point is that the affirmative and the negative sides have the same amount of time
for their speeches.

Preparation time is used to organize a speech before it is orally presented. In the flexible-time
system, each team decides how many minutes to spend before a speech until the given time is
used up. In the fixed-time system, a fixed amount of time (e.g., 2 minutes) is given before each
speech except for the 1st Affirmative Constructive, which is prepared before the debate round.
Cross-examination is lead immediately after the speech.

*Applied debate is conducted on propositions, questions, and topics in which the advocates
have a special interest, and the debate is presented before a judge or an audience with the power
to render a binding decision on the proposition or respond to the question or topic in a real way
and applied debate may be classified as special debate, judicial debate, parliamentary debate, or
nonformula debate.

Academic debate is by no means limited to the classroom and the argumentation course. As the
previous discussion outlines, many colleges and institutes conduct programs of academic debate
by organizing debating teams, which give students opportunities beyond the traditional course
offerings. Academic credit is often given for participation in the debate program—a program
usually opens to any qualified undergraduate. The director of forensics conducts the program to
provide training opportunities for students new to debate and to maximize the challenge for more
experienced students. CEDA, the American Forensics Association, the National Communication
Association, IDEA, and other professional organizations, however, do promote scholarship and
development of argumentation theory and teaching for all those interested in academic debate.
They support research and learning to be applied in debate and argumentation classes, on-
campus debating, and across the curriculum.

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Discussion:
1-What are the main purposes of academic posters?
Academic posters are widely used within the academic community at talks and conferences.
They can be used for a variety of purposes. They can act as an advertisement for your area of
work, a way of sparking debate or as a tool for raising awareness of an issue. To produce an
effective academic poster there are a number of things to be considered.

 Often, the purpose of an academic poster is to grab the attention of your chosen audience and
to inspire interest in your area of research. It should convey a strong central message.

 It is not like an academic essay in this respect as it aims to relate your research project in a
brief and concise manner using bold text and colourful graphics to attract attention.

2-Why do we need to put our experiences in CV?

The Curriculum Vitae or CV can be translated as "the course of one's life/career” and
provides a comprehensive overview of your academic background and professional
accomplishments. A CV is often needed to apply to graduate programs, employment in academia
or international organizations, and in certain professional fields.
We know that a well-written work experience section is a crucial element on your CV because it shows
that you have the necessary qualifications to be an asset to your potential employer. It also provides
substantial information in a limited space.
The work experience section in your resume shows the hiring manager whether you have the necessary
experience and skills to succeed in the role you are applying for. This section also includes information
about your achievements, which can distinguish you from other applicants and make you more likely to
get an interview.
3-Why do we need to have plan and prepare ourselves before presentations and seminars?
Formal speaking in front of an audience can be challenging if you have not done this before,
and plenty of preparation beforehand can help to increase your confidence if you are asked to do
this. Looking for a presentation topic is similar to searching for a topic to write about in
academia (cf. «Topic selection, posing problems and questions»). However, you should always
be aware that writing a paper is not the same as writing a speech since there is indeed a
difference between presenting a topic to listeners and dealing with it for readers. It is also
important to consider the audience before asking too much or too little of your listeners. It can be
helpful, for example, to distribute an abstract, a summary, or a synopsis of your presentation
beforehand. However, sometimes this can also be a distraction.
Although you don’t need to memorize your presentation word-for-word, you do need to plan it
out. With planning your presentation will have a logical flow and you’ll be better prepared to
handle last-minute edits and on-the-fly tailoring queued by your audience.

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Conclusion:
Academic debate is conducted on propositions in which the advocates have an academic
interest, and the debate typically is presented before a teacher, judge or audience without direct
power to render a decision on the proposition. Of course the audience in an academic debate
does form opinions about the subject matter of the debate, and that personal transformation may
ultimately lead to meaningful action. However, the direct impact of the audience decision in an
academic debate is personal, and the decision made by the judge is limited to identification of the
winner of the debate. In fact, in academic debate the judge may be advised to disregard the
merits of the proposition and to render her win/loss decision only on the merits of the support as
presented in the debate itself. The most important identifying characteristic of an academic
debate is that the purpose of the debate is to provide educational opportunities for the
participants.
As noted previously, academic debate is conducted under the direction of an educational
institution to provide educational opportunities for students. Many schools and colleges conduct
programs of academic debate. The issue here is not whether we will participate in debate—our
participation is inevitable, because, sooner or later, most educated people will take part in some
form of debate. The issue is whether our participation will be effective. Academic debate can
teach us to become effective in this essential art. Because debating is an ancient discipline that is
thriving in modern educational institutions, we should consider some of the values of academic
debate. Although not all these values are unique to debate, a successful academic debate program
is an important means of attaining them. Indeed, for many students it is the best, and sometimes
the only, means of obtaining the benefits outlined here.
1. Debate Provides Preparation for Effective Participation in a Democratic Society.
2. Debate Offers Preparation for Leadership.
3. Debate Offers Training in Argumentation.
4. Debate Provides for Investigation and Intensive Analysis of Significant Contemporary Problems.
5. Debate Develops Proficiency in Critical Thinking.
6. Debate Is an Integrator of Knowledge.
7. Debate Encourages Student Scholarship.
8. Debate Develops the Ability to Make Prompt, Analytical Responses.
9. Debate Develops Proficiency in Reading and Writing.
10. Debate Develops Courage.
11. Debate Encourages Effective Speech Composition and Delivery
12. Debate Develops Social Maturity.
13. Debate Empowers Personal Expression.
In conclusion we can say that nowadays debate becomes an important topic of discussion. It
is important because it develops skills and knowledge. It helps the students to become a
confident and bold person. And it will help the students to develop a political identity or own
identity like a debater. It also helps the students to develop a sense of ownership of the world and
a sense of empowerment, as they will know specific global and domestic issues, and the ways in
which the government can solve our generation’s problems. It will help them to boost their
confidence and will make them bold enough to speak in any situation without any hesitation.

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References:
 Let’s Practice Debating in English: by Narahiko INOUE
 Argumentation and Debate: by AUSTIN J. FREELEY & DAVID L. STEINBERG
 www.youth4work.com/Talent/Debating
 www.supi.manchester.ac.uk/media/services/supi/Academic-Poster-Guidance.pdf