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    Mock Debating Class

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    tomasantiago
    This document provides guidelines and tips for participating in a debate. It outlines things for debaters to do, such as stating a clear thesis, using facts as evidence, asking questions of the opponent, and remaining calm. It also describes things to avoid, like personal attacks. The document gives sample debate topics and provides instructions on how a debate between two students would be structured, including time limits for presentations and rebuttals.

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    Mock Debating Class

    Uploaded by

    tomasantiago
    40 views11 pages
    This document provides guidelines and tips for participating in a debate. It outlines things for debaters to do, such as stating a clear thesis, using facts as evidence, asking questions of the opponent, and remaining calm. It also describes things to avoid, like personal attacks. The document gives sample debate topics and provides instructions on how a debate between two students would be structured, including time limits for presentations and rebuttals.

    Original Description:

    This class was developed for lower intermediate ESL students (young adults).

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    This document provides guidelines and tips for participating in a debate. It outlines things for debaters to do, such as stating a clear thesis, using facts as evidence, asking questions of the opponent, and remaining calm. It also describes things to avoid, like personal attacks. The document gives sample debate topics and provides instructions on how a debate between two students would be structured, including time limits for presentations and rebuttals.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    40 views11 pages

    Mock Debating Class

    Uploaded by

    tomasantiago
    This document provides guidelines and tips for participating in a debate. It outlines things for debaters to do, such as stating a clear thesis, using facts as evidence, asking questions of the opponent, and remaining calm. It also describes things to avoid, like personal attacks. The document gives sample debate topics and provides instructions on how a debate between two students would be structured, including time limits for presentations and rebuttals.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    of 11

    Debating

     Do’s
     Don’ts
     Tips
     Debate topics
    Do’s
     Begin by stating a thesis. This is just a brief statement of your position
    and your reasons for holding that position.

     Use facts as evidence for your position. Facts are hard to refute, so
    gather some pertinent data like surveys, statistics, quotes from relevant
    people and results as useful arguments to deploy in support of your case.

     Research your arguments if you have time to do so. You may use
    Debatepedia and get informed about the most common pros and cons
    positions in most common debate topics.

     Ask questions. If you can ask the right questions you can stay in control
    of the discussion and make your opponent scramble for answers.
    Do’s
     Use logic. Show how one idea follows another.

     Build on your opponent's objections. If possible, don't stop at refuting


    them - turn them around and use them against your opponent's position.

     Remain calm, rational, and reasonable at all times. You may feel that
    your opponent is totally failing to understand your position, but if you
    become too agitated, you opponent will take this as a sign of weakness and
    conclude that he has you on the ropes.

     Appeal to higher values. As well as logic you can use a little emotion by
    appealing to worthy motives that are hard to disagree with,
    Do’s
     Listen carefully. Many people are so focused on
    what they are going to say that they ignore their
    opponent and assume their arguments.

     Be prepared to concede a good point. Don’t


    argue every point for the sake of it. If your adversary
    makes a valid point then agree but outweigh it with a
    different argument.

     Have patience. As long as both you and your


    opponent are debating in a reasonable manner, be
    willing to spend some time explaining your position
    and your premises.
    Do’s
     Use effective speech and grammar. You don't need to
    pretend you are a university professor, but if you want to
    be effective and convincing, you should use decent English.

     Be willing to lose. A skilled debater understands that


    sometimes, the other person's arguments will simply be
    stronger than one's own.

     Don't take too much pride in being right (or


    winning the debate). It makes it harder for your
    adversary to admit to being wrong which, in an informal
    clash of opinions, should be your primary goal.
    Don’ts
     Get personal. Direct
    attacks on your opponent’s
    lifestyle, integrity or honesty
    should be avoided.
     Get distracted. Your
    opponent may try to give
    false and confusing
    information by introducing
    new and extraneous themes.
    You must be firm.
     Water down your strong
    arguments with weak
    ones. If you have three
    strong points and two weaker
    ones then it is probably best
    to just focus on the strong.
    Tips
     An argument and a debate are not the same thing. An
    argument is when you are demand that your opponent
    changes his opinion, while a debate is a responsible exchange
    of ideas.
     The rule of thumb to remember is that your own desire to
    believe something or your own opinion about how great the
    belief is will not convince anyone else. To do that, you need
    logic and evidence.
     Become familiar with how logic works. Being able to argue
    logically will make you very effective at pointing out the flaws
    and contradictions in your opponent's objections.
     Be a gracious loser.
     Increase your vocabulary to include great transition words
    and debate jargon to use in your argument, such as
    "moreover", "inasmuch", "per se" (by, of, for, or in itself) and
    "vis-a-vis" (face to face with).
    Instructions
     Instructions
     Two students are placed face to face. They are instructed to have
    pen and paper ready to be used. The are assigned one of the topics
    which the teacher will disclose the day of the test. Then, the
    teacher assigns their position: agree or disagree. They are
    instructed to prepare a 90- second presentation in 2 minutes.
    Finally, a coin is tossed to decide who begins. This is the order to
    be followed:
     Student A presents in 90 seconds. Student B takes notes.
     Student B must ask a question (question the opponent’s
    arguments).
     Student A answers the question.
     Student B presents in 90 seconds. Student A takes notes.
     Student A must ask a question (question the opponent’s
    arguments).
     Student B answers the question.
    Debate Topics
     Paparazzi livelihood v/s privacy of celebrities: what is
    important?
     Is the law easier on celebrities?
     Global warming is a figment of our imagination.
     Bottled water: more harmful than good.
     Do video games really cause bad behavior in children?
     Is the American dream overrated?
     Are security cameras an invasion of privacy?
     Money motivates people more than any other factor at the
    workplace.
    Debate Topics (continued)
     Quarter life crisis is the new midlife crisis
     The world going to end in 2012.
     Co-habitation is the replacement for marriage
     Human cloning should be allowed.
     Newborn babies remember their past life.
     We are overworking ourselves.
     The American dream is overrated
     Parents should encourage the belief that kids have
    in Santa Claus.
    Debate Topics (continued)
    http://academicwriting.wikidot.com/for-and-
    against-essays

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