Debating

English Language Arts

Mr. Mansour
What is a debate?
A Debate is an argument with rules. It is a formal process which allows two or more
individuals with opposing views to discuss and decide issues and differences. The participants are
called debaters, and they use persuasion techniques in order to win the appeal of the audience.
Debates often involve two teams of two people speaking in a specific order; this is just one type of
debate.
The outcome of a debate may be decided by judges, by the audience, or by a combination of
both.

Benefits for students

By participating in debates, students will develop several of the following skills:
• analytical thinking
• collaboration and teamwork
• critical thinking
• differentiating fact from opinion
• identifying bias
• organization
• public speaking
• research
• the art of persuasion

Structure of the teams

When debating, there are two teams consisting of usually two people. These teams will argue a
resolution, which is the basic topic of discussion. Individual speakers of a team are referred to as its
First Speaker and Second Speaker.
Affirmative team (or Proposition/“Government” in the Parliamentary debate format): Those in favour of
the resolution.
Negative team (or Opposition in the Parliamentary debate format): Those against the resolution.

Formats for public debate

There are numerous different formats for public debate, each with its advantages and
disadvantages. Popular formats include:
• Australia-Asia debate • National Debate Tournament
• Classical debate • Canadian National Debate Tournament
• Comedy debate • Parliamentary debate
• Extemporaneous debate • Policy debate
• Impromptu debate • Public forum
• Karl Popper debate • Simulated legislature
• Lincoln-Douglas debate • Team policy debate
• Moot court and mock trial • … others

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 For most of these formats, you may have a prepared or an impromptu debate. Typically, an
impromptu debate only gives the teams about 10 minutes to prepare, while the prepared debate gives
the teams hours, days, or weeks to prepare themselves.
In Canadian high schools, the two most popular formats for public debate are the Canadian
National Debate Tournament and the Parliamentary Debate. There are some things however that all
debate formats have in common:
1. There is a resolution that provides the basic topic of discussion.
2. All debates are divided into two portions – the Constructive and the Rebuttal. The
Constructive portion is first and is where arguments are constructed and presented. The
Rebuttal is last and is where the debate is summarized.
3. There are two teams. The Affirmative (or Government) team and the Negative (or
Opposition) team.
4. The Affirmative (or Government) team always speaks first and last.
5. The Affirmative (or Government) team always has the worry to prove its side.
6. The debate closes with final rebuttals from both teams. A rebuttal is a statement that
contradicts the accuracy of the other team’s statement, or a statement which summarizes a
team’s respective position.

The Parliamentary debate format

The Parliamentary debate format is similar to British parliamentary procedures. Universities in
many parts of the world, especially in Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom, have
debating championships based on this format. Emphasis in this form of debate is on humour,
persuasiveness, rhetorical skills, and wit.
Parliamentary debates are typically impromptu, where the resolution is not given until
approximately 10 minutes before the debate begins.
The proposition team is called the "Government," and the opposition team is simply called the
"Opposition." The Government team is made up of two debaters: the Prime Minister (PM) and the
Member of Government (MG). The Opposition team is also made up of two debaters: the Leader of
the Opposition (LO) and the Member of the Opposition (MO).
As outlined below, a round of parliamentary debate consists of 6 speeches totalling 40 minutes.

Leader of Member of Member of

Prime Minister Leader of
Opposition Government Opposition Prime Minister
Speech Constructive Opposition
Constructive Constructive Constructive Rebuttal (PMR)
(PMC) Rebuttal (LOR)
(LOC) (MG) (MO)
Time 7 min. 8 min. 8 min. 8 min. 4 min. 5 min.
During speeches, other debaters can rise to interject a “Point of information”, a “Point of
order”, or a “Point of personal privilege”.
Point of information: During a speech, a debater from the other team may rise from his seat
and interject by saying, "Point of information, sir?" At this time the speaker has the option of
accepting or rejecting the point of information. It is good practice to accept at least two points of
information per speech. If the speaker accepts the point, then the person who rose may ask a
question to the speaker. The speaker could then choose to answer the question, ignore it if he cannot
come up with a good answer, or reply with a rhetorical question. The speaker then continues with his

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speech. A point of information is not permitted during the first or last
minute of any speech and is only allowed in constructive speeches. They
are not permitted during the rebuttals.
Point of order: A debater may rise on a point of order when he
believes that one of the rules of debate has been broken. A point of order
is often used to say that the speaker is bringing up new argument in a
rebuttal speech, which is not permitted. An interjection is made by rising
and saying something like, "Point of order, argument X is a new
argument." The judge will make a judgment as to whether the point of order is valid. If so, the judge
says, "point well taken." The speaker must then stop making argument X. If not, the judge says,
"point not well taken" and the speaker continues with his argument. The procedure is similar for
other points of order.
Point of personal privilege: Although rarely used, a debater may request a personal favour or
exception from the judge. A debater may also protest a major misrepresentation of one's statements
or an attack on one's character. When a debater’s speech makes an attack on another debater’s
statement, the later can interject by saying something like, “Point of personal privilege! I merely said
that …” The judge will make a ruling and respond with either “point well-taken” or “point not-well-
taken.”

The Canadian National Debate Tournament format

Debaters typically deliver an abundance of evidence very quickly. The complete debating
format is described in the attached document and summarized in the table below.
First Second Second First
First Opposition First Opposition
Proposition Proposition Opposition Proposition
Speaker Speaker
Speech Speaker Speaker Speaker Speaker
(Constructive (Summary/
(Constructive (Constructive (Constructive (Summary/
Speech) Rebuttal)
Speech) Speech) Speech) Rebuttal)
Time 8 min. 8 min. 8 min. 8 min. 4 min. 4 min.

The Speeches and Rebuttal

1st Affirmative Speech 1st Negative Speech
1. Introduction 1. Introduction
2. Resolution 2. If necessary, attacks definitions
3. Definitions 3. Clash with Needs for Change
4. Needs for Change 4. Explain why status quo is good
5. Introduce Plan
2nd Affirmative Speech 2nd Negative Speech
1. Introduction 1. Introduction
2. Clash with points made by Negative and 2. Continue attack on Affirmative
rebuild Affirmative case
3. Present Plan
Rebuttal
During the rebuttal, debaters should:
1. Explain why their team should win and the other team should lose.
2. Remind the judges of their arguments. They should tell the judges why the judges should
believe their arguments even after the other team's attack.
3. Remember to use effective persuasion techniques.
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In-class debates
Because of time constraints, we will use the following format for in-class debates. We can
therefore have 4 debates per class period.
First First Second Second First First
Affirmative Negative Affirmative Negative Negative Affirmative
Break for
Speech Speaker Speaker Speaker Speaker Speaker Speaker
preparation
(Constructive (Constructive (Constructive (Constructive (Negative (Affirmative
Speech) Speech) Speech) Speech) Rebuttal) Rebuttal)
Time 2 min. 2 min. 2 min. 2 min. 2 min. 2 min. 2 min.

Floor layout for a debate

Since teams may vary in size, and since the roles of the chairperson and of the timekeeper
could be combined, the following floor layout for debates may be changed.

Additional Resources
Alberta Debate and Speech Association: http://www.compusmart.ab.ca/adebate/main.htm
Canadian Student Debating Federation: http://www.csdf-fcde.ca/
Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate Debate: http://www.cusid.ca/
Carleton Debating: http://carletondebate.org/xerxes
Manitoba Speech and Debate Association: http://www.sjr.mb.ca/debate/
National (US) Parliamentary Debate League: http://npdl.net
Ontario Student Debating Union: http://www.osdu.on.ca
Provincial Championship Website: http://www.osdu.on.ca/provincialchamp/

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The Moderator’s script
Before beginning the debate, the exact resolution and names of the all the debaters are clearly
written on the board or on a large piece of charting paper. The Moderator script follows.
This debate will come to order.

The resolution before us today is __________________________________________.

Representing the Affirmative [Proposition] team are its First Speaker ___________________
and the Second Speaker ___________________.

Representing the Negative [Opposition] team are its First Speaker ___________________ and
the Second Speaker ___________________.

On behalf of the house, I would like to welcome our judge(s): ___________________,

___________________, and ___________________.

I, ___________________, am your Moderator.

Each speaker will deliver a __ minute constructive speech. The first speaker of each team will
get a __ minute summary and rebuttal speech. [Points of information will be allowed during
the constructive speeches only, but not during the first and last minute of the speeches. I will
bang the desk after the first minute, and again with one minute remaining, to signal the time
during which Points of Information may be raised.] For each speech, __ seconds grace will be
allowed. After each speech, I will immediately call upon the next debater to begin his or her
address. [There will be no Points of Order or Points of Privilege.] Are there any questions
regarding the rules? (ANSWER ANY THAT ARE RAISED)

I call upon the First Speaker to introduce the Affirmative [Proposition] case for __ minutes.
(SPEECH IS GIVEN) I thank the member for his/her remarks.

We shall now hear the First Speaker for the Negative [Opposition]. (SPEECH IS GIVEN) I
thank the member for his/her remarks.

I now call upon the Second Speaker for the Affirmative [Proposition] team. (SPEECH IS
GIVEN) I thank the member for his/her remarks.

The Second Negative [Opposition] speaker will now deliver the last speech opposing the case.
(SPEECH IS GIVEN) I thank the opposition speaker.

At this time, the first speaker for each side will deliver a __ minute summary and rebuttal
speech. No new information may be introduced during these speeches. We will start with the
first Negative [Opposition] Speaker. (SPEECH IS GIVEN)

We will now hear the Affirmative’s [Proposition’s] final summary and rebuttal, to be
delivered by the First Speaker, for __ minutes. (SPEECH IS GIVEN) I thank the member for
concluding the debate.

Judges, please complete your ballots. After doing so, you are invited to make constructive
comments. Remember judges, while making your comments, do not indicate which team has
won the debate. (JUDGE’S COMMENTS)

Thank you judges for your assistance and thank you members of the house for your good
behaviour. Congratulations all debaters for your performance.

I declare this debate officially concluded.

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