Debate

A debate is a formal discussion in which two teams argue on opposite sides of an issue. In short, it is an argument with rules. In UK and North America, many schools have their own debate teams. Debate teams can even compete in national and international debate competitions!

 

Knowing how to summarize information and deliver it to an audience in a short amount of time are skills that will benefit you throughout your lives - in job interviews, work meetings and presentations, and anywhere you will need to present your point of view.  Being able to express yourself will also gain the respect of the people you meet in your life, both in career and non-work related instances. 

 

How the debate works: 

Topic

You will work in teams of two. Each team will be assigned a topic (subject) and a position (for/against).

Research & creating arguments 

Each team will research facts about the subject they were assigned. You will complete a graphic organizer with facts about the topic you are researching. 

Using your research as a tool, you will then create your arguments.

The arguments in your debate should include Point, Explanation & Example (we will discuss this more as we prepare for the debate). 

An important part of a debate is to guess what the other team might say. You will also create some possible arguments that the opposing team could use. 

During the debate

During the debate, each team will have 3 minutes to present their arguments. 

You will then have 5 minutes to prepare  a rebuttal (motbevis) and summary for their argument. 

Each team will then have 2 minutes to present their rebuttal and summary. 

The rest of the class will watch the debate and record their scores for each team. 

After the debate 

After the debate you will write a reflection on how you think you did. Did you work your hardest? What was the most difficult part? What was the easiest part? What could you do better next time? 

Läroplansmål

Syfte

• formulera sig och kommunicera i tal och skrift,
• anpassa språket efter olika syften, mottagare och sammanhang, och

Centralt innehåll

• Samtal och diskussioner samt argumentation.
• Språkliga strategier för att bidra till och aktivt medverka i samtal genom att ta initiativ till interaktion, ge bekräftelse, ställa följdfrågor, ta initiativ till nya frågeställningar och ämnesområden samt för att avsluta samtalet.