ENGLISH DEBATE

Ryche Dewata Sari ( 14 / XI IA 2 )

DEBATING IS :

© About developing communication skills

© About assembling and organizing effective arguments

© About persuading and entertaining audience

© About convincing adjudicator that your arguments are

better than your opposition

DEBATING IS NOT:

© About personal abuse, irrational attacks or

purely emotional attacks

BENEFIT OF DEBATING

Cultivates quick, multi dimensional, and logical

thinking

Improves self confidence and speaking style

Enriches leadership qualities

Improves the ability to develop reasonable opinions

Improves anticipative way of thinking

GOOD DEBATER POSSESS

Ability to acquire knowledge and analyze current

issues

Ability to generate creative ideas

Ability to think critically and logically

Ability to present the ideas clearly and systematically

DEBATING BASICS

A debate is held between two

teams of three members

each

Affirmative Vs Negative

(Government) (Opposition)

Speech Order ;

1) 1st affirmative

2) 1st negative

3) 2nd affirmative

4) 2nd negative

5) 3rd affirmative

6) 3rd negative

7) Negative reply

8) Affirmative reply

o Affirmative team (government) must defend

and give constructive arguments to the

motion. The affirmative has a right to define

the motion and it must be reasonable

definition.

o Negative team (opposition) must oppose or

give counter-case arguments to the motion.

IMPORTANT TERMS Motion = topic being discussed in the debate

Members of this house = members of parliament

Adjudicator = judge (honorable adjudicators)

Rebuttal = opinion used to attack the opponent

Theme line = statement to prove a team’s stand on the motion

Team split = arguments to support theme line

Case building = time to prepare the argument (25/30 min)

Verbal adjudication = resume from the adjudicator to decide the winner.

Margin = the score between your team with your opponent.

MOTIONMotion also known topic of the debate, is full propositional

statements that determines what a debate shall be about

*It is not in the form of questions or phrases

Example:

a. This house believes that education should be for free

b. This house believes that condoms should be distributed

at school

ROLES OF THE SPEAKER

1st affirmative Defines the motion of the debate

Presents the affirmative’s theme line

Outline the affirmative’s team split

Deliver substantial argument (1st affirmative part of the split)

Provides a brief summary/recap of the speech

1ST NEGATIVE

Provides a response to the definition (accepts or

challenges the definition)

Rebuts 1st affirmative

Presents the negative’s theme line

Outlines the negative’s team split

Delivers substantial arguments (1st negative’s part of the

split)

Provides a brief summary/recap of the speech

2ND AFFIRMATIVE

Rebuts the 1st negative’s major arguments

Briefly restates terms the affirmative’s team

case (reinforces the idea/ argument delivered

by 1st speaker)

Delivers substantial arguments (2nd

affirmative’s split). Most of the 2nd affirmative’s

time should be dealing with new substantial

material/arguments

Provides a brief summary/ recap of the speech

2ND NEGATIVE

Rebuts the 2nd affirmative’s argument (could also

rebuts first two affirmative)

Briefly restates terms the negative’s team case

(reinforces the idea/argument delivered by 1st speaker)

Delivers substantial argument (2nd negative’s split.

Most of the 2nd negative’s time should be dealing with

new arguments)

Provides a brief summary/ recap of the speech

3RD AFFIRMATIVE

Rebuts the points/arguments raised by the first two negative

speaker. The 3rd affirmative is mainly entrusted with the duty

of responding to the arguments of the negative that were not

previously dealt with by the first two affirmative speaker. 3rd

affirmative may also reinforce rebuttals that have been

stated by teammates (could also possibly bring new split)

Rebuild team’s case

Summarizes the issues of the debate (summary)

3RD NEGATIVE

Rebuts the point raised by all three affirmative speaker.

The 3rd negative speaker cannot bring a new

matter/argument/ split (see also duties of 3rd affirmative

which are quite similar to the duties of the 3rd negative

here). New examples are not considered to be new

matter/argument

Rebuilds team’s case

Summarizes the issues of the debate (summary)

REPLY SPEECH

Reply speakers give a recap of the debate and convincing

biased adjudication. (reply speech is not rebuttal)

Reply speakers duties:

Provide summary of overview of the debate/ what is the

clash/ point of contention

Identify the issues raised by both sides (what our team has

given and what the other side has given as well)

Provide a biased adjudication of the debate and also to

convince the adjudicator that your team should win that

debate.

REPLY SPEECH

- May be delivered by 1st or 2nd speaker

- Reply speech is not rebuttal

- Reply speaker may not bring new matter

DEFINITION

The motion must be defined by affirmative team

A definition clarifies the motion

A definition gives a clear description of boundaries to the

motion; limiting what the debate will be about into a focused

discussion

It will try to avoid different interpretations from both teams of

what actually being debated

It must be debatable

Explain the key-words in motion/topic

Definition should allow the negative team to debate/dispute

A GOOD DEFINITION SHOULD NOT BE

Truistic definition; it is ‘true’ by nature

Tautological or circular definition; it is logically

impossible to negate

Squirreling definition; doesn’t have logical link to the

motion

Time and place setting; it consists of specific

knowledge

FAIR DEFINITON IS A MUST

THEME LINE

It used to prove a team’s stand on the motion, and

answer the question “WHY” to the defined motion.

It is the underlying logic of a team’s case

It is “Case In A Nutshell”

It is the main idea that links together the first, second,

and third speaker

It can be in form of short sentence (single sentence)

Ex : we agree with this motion because…………. (+)

we don’t agree with this motion because…. (-)

TEAM SPLIT- Debating is a team activity (one person/ speaker

cannot take all arguments and become the sole

defender of team’s case)

- It is a distribution of the arguments among the

speaker (first and second speaker)

- Each individual speech must prove the motion (try to

avoid “Hung Case”)

- Ex : Social 1st speaker

Economy 2nd speaker

Politics 2nd speaker

REBUTTAL

Good rebuttal should be

1) Showing that the opposing argument is illogical

2) Showing that the opposing argument is based on an error of fact or a

misinterpretation of fact/ evidence

3) Showing that the opposing argument does not have strong and enough

data, fact, or evidence

4) Showing that the opposing argument is irrelevant to the proof of the

topic/ motion

5) Showing that the opposing argument involves unacceptable implication

and application

When we rebut we must show how and why the

opposition arguments are invalid :

An argument may be wrong in fact or logic – if so, say

how and why

An argument may contradict their team

An argument may be true but completely irrelevant

It is not necessary to rebut every single point and fact

raised by the opposition.

It is not simply in the form of “questions”

ARGUMENT

What adjudicators look for in good argument:

1) Relevance

2) Organization

3) Consistency and internal logic-i.e. don’t contradict

yourself or you teammates.

4) Clarity (remember, debating is about persuading

your audience and adjudicator that you’re right – so

make sure they can understand what you’re

saying)

5) Effective use of evidence

GETTING THE ARGUMENTS RIGHT

1) Identify what you have to prove under the

motion

2) Identify what helps you to prove it

3) Anticipate the questions/rebuttal

4) Block the opportunity for those

5) Present the arguments in good order

GOOD ARGUMENT SHOULD HAVE:

A = Assertion

R = Reason

E = Evidence/ Example

L = Link

ADJUDICATION

1) MATTER (the content) 40%: what you present/ say;

ARGUMENT, EVIDENCE, EXAMPLES (could be from

authentic materials) and REBUTTALS

2) MANNER (how you present/say) 40%; DELIVERY/

PUBLIC SPEAKING ABILITY: how effective and

persuasive is the speaker’s manner in delivering

the argument

ELEMENTS OF MANNER

Gesture

Eye contact

Stance

Language

Vocal style; volume,

clarity, intonation,

and pronunciation

Use of notes; not to

read a lot

Expression of

sincerity

Fluency

Humor

No personal attack

METHOD (HOW YOU ORGANIZE WHAT

YOU SAY) 20%

Structure and organization includes:

- Structure of individual speech (time

management, i.e. overtime/under time)

- Structure of the team’s case (fulfillment of

the roles of the speakers)

- Response to the dynamics of the debate

ADJUDICATORS BRIEFING

REMEMBER!

⋆ Assess what is in a debate only

⋆ You don’t think for the debaters

⋆ Don’t use personal belief

⋆ Use your common sense

⋆ Take detail notes of the debate

Adjudicator is an Average Reasonable Person

PHYLOSOPHY OF ADJUDICATING

Decide who wins the debate

Decide margin of the debate

Decide team’s score

Provide decision with acceptable

reason

SCORING METHOD;

Decide who the winner is

(compare both teams and analyze each

strength and weaknesses; advantages and

disadvantages; how team’s advantages benefit

them)

Decide the margin

Assigning score to each team (giving score for

each of the speaker according to the marking

scale; try not to give extreme score)

MARKING SCALE

Matter/Manner Method Meaning

27 13 Very poor

28-29 14 Below average-Poor

30 15 Average

31-32 16 Above average-very

good

33 17 Excellent

MARKING SCALE; MARGIN

Margin Meaning

1-4 A very close debate with only minor

differences separating both teams

5-9 A relatively clear decision with one team

having an obvious advantage

10-12 A very clear win

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION