debate for esol students

9VOL. 12 NO. 1 TESOL JOURNAL

Debate for ESOL StudentsTimothy Stewart

area and practice in activities that are well suited for acontent-based instruction (CBI) course.

A survey of the language needs of nonnative Englishspeakers in U.S. universities found that ESOL studentsranked formal speaking and listening comprehension skillsas their two biggest problem areas (Ferris, 1998). Theresults also indicated that art, humanities, and businesscourses are characterized by class participation, discussions,formal speaking and debates, and, moreover, that ESOLstudents found these activities difficult. In addition, Ferrisdiscovered that these skills were more likely to be requiredin “classes with higher proportions of ESL students” (p.300). Debate offers ESOL teachers a way to combine thepractice of these important skills.

Teachers using CBI approaches provide learningenvironments where students are engaged in authentic andmeaningful processing of language and content informa-tion. Brinton (2000) claims that content-based units workbest when topics are controversial; content engages studentspersonally, intellectually, and emotionally; topics arecurrent and relevant; content allows students to relate tothe human condition; and content is presented in a waythat helps learners develop skills of critical analysis.

Students in academic programs need to be able toperform various academic tasks in different disciplines.Academic language has been defined as “the language thatis used by teachers and students for the purpose of acquir-ing new knowledge and skills” (Chamot & O’Malley,1994, p. 40). Chamot and O’Malley list a number oflanguage functions that are needed in all content areas:explaining, informing, justifying, debating, describing,classifying, proving, persuading, and evaluating. In addi-tion, students are often expected to state, discuss, question,and defend opinions. Students preparing for a debate findthemselves practicing many of these language functions.Pally (2000), furthermore, claims that knowledge ofargumentation is critical for success in U.S. universities:“[C]ritical thinking skills—including questioning informa-tion . . . are used widely in academic/professional settings”(p. 4). However, in many language classrooms, the prag-matic context for using academic language is often missing.

There are several ways in which debate provides anexcellent context for CBI. First, the academic needs ofESOL learners are addressed in debate-related activitiesbecause students must practice a wide range of skills asthey research, state, defend, and question arguments.

Second, debate is an authentic and meaningful activityfor learning in academic settings. Widdowson (1998) hasargued that building an authentic context for using lan-guage in classrooms is more important than the use of

E ach fall, at the end of one of my courses in Englishcommunication in Japan, I survey the EFL studentson the activities they liked best. For the past 9 years,

more than 75% of the students have ranked debate as theirfavorite activity. Comments, such as the following fromend-of-course questionnaires, typically reflect students’positive attitude toward the debate activity.

I liked debate the best. It was a first time I told about myopinion.

Though it’s very hard for me to prepare for debate, I like thebest and I could enjoy.

I think the debate was best because I could work withclassmates and that made me proud of myself.

These are the comments of college students who are oftencharacterized as being unmotivated and reserved. Yet theirenthusiasm for debate and their performance in debateevents challenges this stereotype. For these students, debateclearly is a meaningful way to practice language skills.

The enthusiasm expressed by students taking mycourse has motivated me to learn more about how debatecan be used to teach language and academic skills. Thisarticle outlines how debate can contribute to the develop-ment of ESOL students’ academic language skills. Itdescribes a debate format developed for and used with aparticular group of EFL students and outlines practicalsuggestions that ESOL teachers can incorporate in lessonsaimed at developing language skills, academic skills, andcontent knowledge.

Content-Based Instructionand DebateLanguage used with friends and family to maintain socialrelationships differs from that needed to be effective inacademic and work environments. Conversational ex-changes in schools and businesses often have effectiveexchange of information as the goal. In these situations,therefore, speaking turns may be longer and more complex.Basturkmen (2001) notes, “it is often in such situationsthat second language learners lack confidence and fluency”(p. 4). Research has revealed that language learners desireand need help in engaging in communication in academicsettings, where information exchange is immediate (Ferris,1998; Ferris & Tagg, 1996; Spack, 1994). By practicingdebating, ESOL students can learn the skills necessary tocommunicate in such situations. My experience has shownthat debate is a task that requires knowledge of a content

10 TESOL JOURNAL VOL. 12 NO. 1

so-called authentic materials. This kind of authenticity isan inherently motivating feature of debate for learners.

Third, debate provides instructors with a solid vehiclefor integrated instruction. Using debate, ESOL teacherscan direct learners’ study and practice of listening, speak-ing, reading, and writing skills, in combination withcritical thinking skills. Debate, by definition, centers oncontroversy of some sort. By researching available resourcesand preselecting materials, instructors can ensure thattopics used in their courses are current, relevant, andengaging for learners. Just as the content materials providea unifying thread for meaningful engagement with lan-guage learning, so, too, does the debate structure presentlearners with opportunities for authentic communication.Thus, the use of debate-related activities in languageclassrooms has numerous benefits, as seen from the CBIperspective.

Formats for DebateThe forms of debate that best meet the above-stated CBIcriteria are those that incorporate maximal levels ofinteraction. In such formats, participants present andsupport arguments, question or rebut arguments, andmake a final appeal or summary. Formal debates areorganized by a presentation format and are run accordingto predetermined times. They are performed for anaudience, and a winner is chosen. Debates begin with atopic that is formulated as a motion or resolution (e.g.,Resolved: School uniforms should be abolished). On oneside of the issue, an individual or a team supports thisposition (affirmative), and, on the other side, an individualor a team opposes it (negative). The debate may beginwith some kind of general introduction followed byspecific points that are supported by evidence (argument).Arguments can be questioned, rebutted, or both, by theopposing team. Finally, there may be an opportunity forteams to make a concluding statement or final appeal. (SeeTable 1 for definitions of debate terms.)

There are several debate formats. A helpful distinctionmight be between an academic or educational debate style

versus an applied or real-world debate style. The latter isused for decision making in the real world. The former iswhat concerns teachers and refers to any type of debateused for the purpose of educational training in argumenta-tion skills. Within academic debate, the standard or Oxfordstyle refers to a format that does not have cross-examina-tion. Cross-examination debate is another subset of academicdebate. After experimenting for 9 years with a few varia-tions of cross-examination debate, my colleagues and I havedevised a format that has been proven to support evenlower proficiency ESOL students in a debate event. Theprincipal goal was to design an ESOL debate that motivatesstudents to carry out extensive practice in language andcritical thinking skills.

A Format for ESOL DebateThe ESOL debate format is outlined in the Appendix. Thedebate begins with both teams presenting 1-minute intro-ductions. This is normally a statement of their position vis-à-vis the resolution and a brief outline of their majorarguments. Next, the teams present each of their majorarguments separately. They have 2 minutes to state each oftheir arguments. Immediately following this, the opposingteam has 1 minute to ask questions or respond to thespecific argument presented. After all of the major argu-ments have been stated, there is a 2-minute break toprepare questions. Next, each team simply states two of itsmain questions to ensure comprehension by the opposingteam. During this question preview stage, the concern isnot with discovering the answer but only with ensuringthat the question is understood so that it can be answeredin the following stage of the debate, cross-examination.After the main questions have been previewed, there is a 3-minute break to prepare answers. Next, both teams have 6minutes to ask questions. This cross-examination stage isfollowed by a 3-minute break to prepare a 1-minute closingstatement.

A key advantage for language teachers of this ESOLdebate format is that it encourages all members to partici-pate throughout the event. To maintain active student

Debate Term Definition

Affirmative (Team) ❖ the side that supports the resolution in a debateArgument ❖ a claim supported by evidenceCross-examination ❖ the questioning period in a debateDebate format ❖ a type of debate with particular goals, rules, and practicesNegative (Team) ❖ the team that rejects or opposes the resolution in a debateOpening statement ❖ the opening speeches in a debate (which usually include the teams’ position

and an overview of their main arguments)Position ❖ a stand on an issue that a debater supportsRebuttal ❖ a response to an opponent’s argumentsResolution ❖ the topic of a debate that the affirmative supports and the negative rejects

Table 1. Definitions of Debate Terms. (compiled from Hanson, 1990)


involvement and help ESOL debaters overcome compre-hension difficulties, three questioning periods are included.Furthermore, every team member is required to present amajor argument. As each major argument is presented, amember of the opposing team is assigned to take notes andthen lead the questions or make a short rebuttal to theargument. Team members also are assigned questioning andnote-taking responsibilities in the cross-examination part ofthe debate. Finally, teams are encouraged to have theirmembers share in the presentation of the opening andclosing statements. Figure 1 presents a thumbnail sketch ofthis format.

ESOL Debate Format in ActionLet us now examine two brief examples of student interac-tion to see how the ESOL debate format facilitates thegoals of CBI. The opening statements and major argu-ments are prepared beforehand. The time limits for thesepreparations are short in order to ease the informationburden on ESOL learners. Immediately following eachmajor argument presentation, the opposing team has timeto ask questions or respond. Comprehension questionsseeking explanations of vocabulary or concepts are com-mon during these questioning periods. In the first tran-script (Figure 2), members of the Negative Team beginquestioning in order to find out if their understanding ofthe stated argument is correct. The main point of the

argument was that everyone diagnosed as terminally illwould want their doctor to inform them. The interactionbegins with student N2 questioning the Affirmativeargument. The question is answered with a brief statementof clarification that is immediately evaluated by N2 asfavoring his team’s position. Sensing a successful challenge,student A1 of the Affirmative Team clarifies his team’sposition, only to have it challenged immediately by studentN3 of the Negative Team, who restates his team’s position.The video recording made of this interaction shows that allstudents actively participated during this exchange, whilefour of the six students spoke. During this 1-minuteexchange, the students engaged in a range of academiclanguage functions.

A key advantage for language teachers ofthis ESOL debate format is that it

encourages all members to participatethroughout the event.

Resolution: Capital punishment should be abolished.

Affirmative Team Negative Team

❖ One or more team members presents the team’sposition and a brief overview of its arguments.

❖ Each team member presents one major argument.❖ Each team member is chief note taker and respon-

dent for one opposition argument.❖ All team members are assigned to ask and answer

questions during cross-examination.❖ One or more team members presents a closing

statement.

Figure 1. ESOL debate format in a nutshell.

Wesupport

thisresolution.

Wereject

thisresolution.

Resolved: Doctors should be required to tell patients if thepatients are dying.

N2: Everyone want to know the disease? Ah, their condi-tion? (Questioning)

A2: Not, not everyone. (Clarifying)

N2: Thank you. [laughing] (Evaluating)

A1: Not every patient. Most of the patient. Do youunderstand this meaning? [Negative team members nod,yes] (Clarifying, Defending, Persuading)

N3: Not mo most of the people wanna know ah, want toknow right. Everyone has right to know but not everyonewant to know about health condition if they have theterminal illness. [timer sounds] (Restating, Challenging,Persuading)

Later, during the cross-examination, the Negative Teamcontinues this line of questioning and links it to theirdefinition of the word require that is used in the resolution.The cross-examination exchange in the second transcript(Figure 3) begins with a question, followed by a response.After this, however, the participants seek to gain advantageby using skills such as defining, clarifying, challenging, andpersuading. These two transcripts illustrate how debate canbe a vehicle for practicing complex academic language andcritical thinking skills.

Table 2 presents a partial list of academic skills en-hanced by debating. Clearly, the transcripts illustrate manyof the speaking, listening, critical thinking, and group-workskills listed in this table, including stating and restatingarguments, defining terms, clarifying, querying, andpersuading. Furthermore, these exchanges demonstrate theaspect of authenticity as the students produced extensivecommunication in the target language. These students seemcompletely immersed in the debate, and the authenticity ofthe communication event resulted in the exercise of criticalthinking strategies.

Figure 2. Transcript of major arguments questions.


Academic SkillsTeachers can use the steps outlined in Table 2 to teachacademic skills through debate. The table includes sixcategories of academic skills that debate can foster in ESOLstudents. Teachers using CBI approaches will appreciate thenatural way in which debate allows instruction in contentand language skills to be integrated. Below is a briefdescription of how this can work in practice.

Step 1: Students Research a Topic

This step involves students learning about referencematerials and how to search for useful information. Alter-natively, teachers can provide materials. At this initial step,there should be a focus on reading and writing skills, suchas skimming, scanning, and note taking. For example,students can scan a reading and note down pertinentpoints.

Step 2: Team MembersShare Information

In this step, students orally summarize the main pointsthey have gleaned from individual reading and work withteam members to create a group master list of arguments.This involves complex cognitive processing as studentssynthesize and categorize their information. The informa-tion needs to be classified as either supporting or opposing

Tasks Academic Skills

Researching a topic Reading• scanning• skimming• close readingWriting• note taking

Organizing information Reading(e.g., selecting major • close readingarguments in teams, Speakingplanning opening and • summarizing informationclosing statements) • discussing

Listening• comprehending short

oral reportsWriting• note taking• summarizingCritical Thinking• categorizing information• evaluating information• synthesizing informationGroup Work• sharing information• planning

Writing a short Writingcomparative essay • essay writingcontrasting one negative • note takingand one affirmative • paraphrasingargument • summarizing

Critical Thinking• contrasting main ideas

Making oral Speakingpresentations • presenting

• stating/restatingarguments, clarifying

• posing and respondingto questions

Listening• comprehending oral

presentations, discussions,questions, and responses

Writing• note taking• editingCritical Thinking• evaluating presentations,

questions and responsesGroup Work• evaluating• planning

Resolved: Doctors should be required to tell patients if thepatients are dying.

N3: Do you know what require means? (Questioning)

A3: Yes I know. (Responding)

N1: Required means … if it is required you must do. It’sanyway 100%. (Clarifying, Defining, Proving)

N3: You said, you said all people want to know aboutdisease or condition. Right? (Challenging)

A1: But patient also have the right to refuse to know theircondition and their disease or treatment. (Explaining,Justifying)

N3: No, you said you ah, I’m asking you again ah, beforeyou said yes. But we have some data for not everypeople want to know about health condition.(Challenging)

A1: Every patient have the right to know their disease andcondition but patient can refuse to know. (Explaining,Defending, Persuading)

N3: You know this resolution? Doctors should be requiredto tell patients if the patient are dying. You know thatmeaning? 100% people. Doctor must to say ah you’ll dieor you are terminal ill. (Clarifying, Proving)

Figure 3. Transcript of cross-examination exchange.

Table 2. Steps in the debate process:Tasks and academic skills


the resolution. The team members also should agree onwhich of their arguments are the strongest.

Step 3: Teams Draft TheirMajor Argument Presentations

One way for students to prepare their major argumentpresentation is to have them each write a brief essaycontrasting two arguments, one in favor of and oneopposed to the debate resolution. This step developsstudents’ ability to paraphrase and summarize informationand write short essays.

sections describe in detail several activities that teachers canincorporate into an ESOL debate course to help studentspractice these skills.

Reading and Writing

One effective method for introducing students to writingtheir opinions is to have them read and analyze shortletters to the editor of a publication, such as a newspaperor magazine (Figure 4), and then write their own. Instruc-tion should not be only in discrete skills because studentscan benefit from integrated instruction. Silberstein (1994)explains that “bringing editorials and opinion pieces intothe second language classroom is an excellent way topractice critical reading skills” (p. 74), and these authentictexts can serve as models for student writing.

Speaking

When people have differing opinions and attempt topersuade one another through argumentative discussion,debate is taking place. Successful discussion tasks requirethat students perceive a reason to speak rather than simplydiscuss topics randomly. Debate provides this motivation tolanguage learners. The principal speaking activities fordebate preparation include presentations of new informa-tion to classmates in the form of arguments, often usingvisuals. Questioning, answering, and defining are alsoimportant to clarify terms and aspects of arguments. Onesample speaking activity that engages students in presentingarguments and questioning is outlined in Activity 2 (Figure5). This activity is most effective once students havebackground knowledge about a topic. By giving studentsdifferent cards each time, this activity can also be used inseveral lessons as a review exercise.

ConclusionExperience using academic debate formats with collegestudents has helped identify several key areas of whichteachers need to be aware. First, when using debate toteach students with lower levels of proficiency, the timelimit for arguments is a key concern. Shorter time limitshelp ensure more equal participation among students anddecrease the amount of information that a speaker needs toconvey, thus, reducing the burden on less competentspeakers while also assisting listeners to comprehend themessage without being overwhelmed by too muchinformation.

Second, participants in ESOL debates should be ableto interact as much as possible. That is, in order to facili-tate comprehension, teams need to be allowed to askquestions and make statements about one another’s argu-ments throughout a debate event. Furthermore, studentswith lower levels of English proficiency may experiencecomprehension problems during cross-examination or

Teachers using CBI approaches willappreciate the natural way in which

debate allows instruction in content andlanguage skills to be integrated.

Step 4: Students PracticePresenting Their Major Arguments

Public speaking skills, including the creation and presenta-tion of visuals such as posters, can be incorporated into thisstep. When giving presentations, students learn how topersuade an audience and must often field questionsspontaneously. One way to begin this process is to havestudents perform 1- to 2-minute snap, or impromptu,speeches on familiar topics. Note-taking practice as well asasking and answering questions can easily be worked in atthis point as students listen to and question one another’sarguments.

Step 5: Students RefineTheir Presentations

As teams prepare for the debate event, they develop group-work skills. Teachers can use this situation to instructionaladvantage by having students peer edit written argumentsand critique argument presentations. Feedback can comefrom peer evaluations, self-evaluations, and the instructor.Recording presentations for later evaluation can also behighly effective as students polish their performances. All ofthis revision of arguments will enable teams to get a senseof their overall presentation and should deepen theircomprehension as they once again have to synthesize andsummarize their main points for the opening and closingstatements.

ESOL Debate Preparation ActivitiesWhen preparing for a debate, students need to gaininformation about the debate topic, first, by reading aboutit; then, by writing and speaking about it. The following


Figure 4. Writing an opinion.

Directions: Read the two “Letters to the Editor” carefully. Write the topic of each letter below. Discuss any questions youhave in your group. Then find the information to answer the questions in the chart.

1. Letter 1 Topic: _______________________________________________

Letter 2 Topic: _______________________________________________

Letter 1 Letter 2

2. Point of View• Who is the author?• Who is the audience?

3. Organization• Identify the parts:

(e.g., introduction, definitionof problem, support, examples,solutions, conclusion)

• Which paragraphs are theseparts in?

• What style of organizationis used?

4. Content and Language• What are the key ideas?• How are they written?• How are ideas connected?

Materials:

Index cards containing arguments and questions prepared by the teacher. See sample below.

Directions to All Students:

1. Read the resolution and make sure that you understand it (e.g., Gambling should be legalized.).2. Read your argument and make sure that you understand it.3. Read your questions and decide if they are comprehension/clarification or follow-up questions.

Directions to Listeners:

1. Listen to a partner’s argument and restate it.2. Check your list of questions to see if one matches the argument.3. If a question matches, SAY (do not read) it. If you have no matching questions, try to think of your own question to ask.

Directions to Speakers:

1. State your argument.2. Check that your partner understands your argument.3. Listen to the question and decide what TYPE of question it is (comprehension/clarification or follow-up).

Sample Argument and Questions Index Card for Student

Front Back

Find classmates whose arguments relate tothese questions:

1. Can you define reduce for me please?2. What do you mean by “most countries”?

Could you be more specific?3. Why do you think it is becoming more

popular?

This is your argument:

Gambling is often addictive.

Figure 5. Question-and-answer practice.


questioning episodes as well as during the more lengthystatement of arguments. As a result, many of the questionsposed during a cross-examination might not be cross-examination-type questions at all but, rather, comprehen-sion questions on the content and meaning of the opposingteam’s questions.

Finally, teachers need to try their best to encouragebalanced contributions by team members during debatepreparation activities as well as during the debate eventitself. The ESOL debate format outlined in the Appendixwas designed with these concerns in mind.

ESOL learners benefit from the sustained nature ofpreparing for a debate. As they become more familiar witha content area over time, they develop the ability tocomprehend, discuss, and question the topic in English.Debate requires participants to practice English languageskills in order to grasp the content of the topic, butstudents also are motivated by the performance aspect ofthe activity. Thus, debate is not an end in itself but, rather,a task through which language practice can be orchestrated.In other words, the debate event becomes an academicdisplay task (Carson, 2000) that ESOL teachers can use asa springboard to focus content acquisition and pedagogicalactivities. In this way, teachers in CBI programs can usedebate as a task to provide ESOL students with interestingand satisfying ways of learning the skills they need.

References

Basturkmen, H. (2001). Descriptions of spoken language forhigher level learners: The example of questioning. ELTJournal, 55, 4–13.

Brinton, D. (2000, March). Investigating the “C” in content-basedinstruction. Paper presented at the annual meeting of theAmerican Association of Applied Linguistics, Vancouver, CA.

Carson, J. G. (2000). Reading and writing for academic pur-poses. In M. Pally (Ed.), Sustained content teaching inacademic ESL/EFL (pp. 19–34). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Chamot, A. U., & O’Malley, J. M. (1994). The CALLA hand-book. New York: Addison-Wesley.

Ferris, D. (1998). Students’ views of academic aural/oral skills: Acomparative needs analysis. TESOL Quarterly, 32, 289–318.

Pally, M. (2000). Sustaining interest/advancing learning: Sus-tained content-based instruction in ESL/EFL—Theoreticalbackground and rationale. In M. Pally (Ed.), Sustainedcontent teaching in academic ESL/EFL (pp. 1–18). Boston:Houghton Mifflin.

Silberstein, S. (1994). Techniques and resources in teaching reading.New York: Oxford University Press.

Spack, R. (1994). Blair resources for teaching writing: English as asecond language. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Widdowson, H. (1998). Context, community, and authenticlanguage. TESOL Quarterly, 32, 705–716.

Author

Timothy Stewart is assistant professor of English at MiyazakiInternational College in Miyazaki, Japan. He has taught incontent-based language programs in Canada and Japan since 1990.He welcomes readers’ comments via e-mail at [email protected].

Appendix: ESOL Debate Format

Opening Statement Minutes

Affirmative team presents general introduction 1

Negative team presents general introduction 1

Major Arguments

Affirmative Team states first argument 2

(Negative Team asks questions or gives rebuttal) 1

Negative Team states first argument 2

(Affirmative team asks questions or gives rebuttal) 1

Affirmative Team states second argument 2

(Negative team asks questions or gives rebuttal) 1

Negative Team states second argument 2

(Affirmative Team asks questions or gives rebuttal) 1

Affirmative Team states third argument 2


Negative Team states third argument 2


Affirmative Team states fourth argument 2


Negative Team states fourth argument 2


Question Preview

(2-minute break to prepare questions) 2

Affirmative Team asks two initial questions 2

(Negative Team asks comprehension questions)

Negative Team asks two initial questions 2

(Affirmative Team asks comprehension questions)

Cross-Examination

(3-minute break to prepare responses) 3

Affirmative Team answers questions 6

(Negative Team challenges with follow-up questions)

Negative Team answers questions 6

(Affirmative Team challenges with follow-up questions)

Closing Statement

(3-minute break to prepare statements) 3

Affirmative Team presents closing statement 1

Negative Team presents closing statement 1

Note: Teams of three or four students are recommended. Thetotal time for each part of the debate will increase accordinglywhen additional team members are added.

debate for esol students

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