"dabating" in efl--effective?

[ericgam]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering what you think. How effective is doing "debating competitions" with students as opposed to conventional lessons (reading together, discussing the text and language...) Of course, i mean intermediate to advanced students. If debating is worthwhile indeed, could you please list some suggestions for how to do a debating lesson/competition.

Thanks, and hope to hear from you soon.

[Hi_there_Carl]

I think it is a great idea.

If you are going to do it though, teach them a little about how to debate. Let them come up with some topics and positions (pro or con) and then let them do a little research. Teach them the importance of being logical with verbal presentation and "backing up" what they say. It will take a little effort but I think it is a great idea.

[Tdol]

This site might help: IDEA: International Debate Education Association - Debate Resources & Debate Tools

[rewboss]

Debates can be a very good technique to use, although I would offer it in addition to other techniques, not instead of. Students have to use language to get their points across and defend their position, and that's so much better than working with some dry text.

A major problem is finding a subject they can actually disagree about. Often you find yourself faced with a class of students where they all agree about everything, and any debate is reduced to everybody saying, in turn, "Yes, I agree with Peter".

In such cases, I find it useful to choose some preposterous subject to debate -- for example, a scientist has developed a means to implant human brains into robot bodies and so eliminate disease and hunger. Then I give each a card with their role on it, such as: "You are a government official. Your minister thinks this is a waste of money and won't support the project," or: "You are a cybernetics expert. You think this could be the solution to humanity's greatest problems."

[ericgam]

Thanks for the reply Hi_there_Carl. t'was helpful!

[ericgam]

Thanks Tdol, read your post

[ericgam]

Very very helpful rewboss, thanks a whole lot!