UNIT 3: DEBATING IN CLASS / DEBATE

2.3.1 Theory content

Debating means fighting orally in favour or against a certain claim or motion launched by the teacher, supporting one’s position through effective and solid arguments. (L. Cinganotto “Handy Guide to Debate” Pearson 2020)

Why is debate important? Because it develops a lot of skills and competences, such as communication, public speaking, critical thinking, creativity, control of the emotions, research skills and digital competences.

The following example of Debate we propose you is an adaptation of the traditional debate. The phases are identical and there are three speakers. However the team is composed of five students since there is also a coordinator and a researcher. The themes proposed have an increasing level of difficulty: from ‘A uniform should be worn at school’ to ‘Religion has done more harm than  good to populations so far’.

The assessment

The teachers’ jury observes all the phases (preparation of the debate and speaking) to assess the students as well as the shared worksheet used by the researcher to write down the results of his/her searches in real time.

2.3.2 Practical Activity

There are four teams with five students each.

A team is composed of three speakers, a coordinator and a researcher.

The researcher is at home and he is the only one allowed to search for information; the coordinator is the mediator between the speakers and the researcher. The speakers’ argumentation will be based upon the information they get from the researcher.

2.3.3 Glossary

Debate means fighting orally in favour or against a certain claim or motion.