Thisbookresultspartiallyfromamulti-yearresearchproject(entitled“IncorporatingDebate-relatedTrainingintoHighSchoolEnglishCurriculum”)Iconductedfrom2007to2010underthesponsorshipofNationalScienceCouncil(nowcalledMinistryofScienceandTechnology),andpartiallyfrommyyearsofexperienceinteachingEnglishdebatetocollegeandhighschoolstudentsinTaiwan.Asateacher,researcherandjudgeofEnglishdebates,IknowwelltheeducationalvaluesdebateholdsforlearnersofEnglishatalllevelsinadvancingtheirbasiclanguageskills,publicspeaking,criticalthinking,organizationandresearchingabilities.Atthesametime,IamalsohighlycognizantofthechallengesChineseEFLlearnersfacewhenengagedinsuchaculturallyunpopularandunfamiliaroralactivity,andamconvincedthatthesechallengesneedtobepointedlyaddressedifweareevertoseeourstudentsbenefitfromthemeritsofEnglishdebateandthriveintheirfutureacademicandprofessionallives.
ItisinthatconvictionthatthebookEnglishDebateandArgumentationMadeEasyforChineseEFLLearnerswasborn.Thebookisarrangedintothreesections:GenericCriticalThinkingSkills,ArgumentativeDiscourseSkills,andDebateBasics.Iconsiderthecriticalthinkingskillsincludedinthebook“generic”becauseIseethemasprototypicalskillsthatcanbeappliedtomyriadtasksentailingcriticalthinking.Argumentativediscourseskills,ontheotherhand,areintendedtocultivatelearners’linguisticcompetenceinargumentation.Herecriticalthinkingandargumentativediscourseskillsareseenasthetwocategoriesofskillsthatconstitutetheessenceofanyformofargumentation.Asastepfurther,materialsincludedinDebateBasicsare,
however,gearedtowardpreparingstudentsforamoreformalandadvancedformofargumentation,specificallycompetitivepolicydebate.ThearrangementofthebookthusfacilitatesstudentsofdifferentEnglishproficiencylevelsinlearningargumentation.Forthelow-andintermediate-levellearners,unitsinsectionsIandIIwillmeettheirneeds.
Forthehighlevellearnersandparticularlythosewhoaretoundertakecompetitivedebate,afterfinishingunitsinsectionsIandII,unitsinsectionIIIareusefulinprovidingasimplebutclearblueprintfortheessentialknowledgeandskillsentailedincompetitiveEnglishpolicydebate.
GenericCriticalThinkingSkills
Thissectionisdividedintosixunits.TheyaresequencedinanorderIconsidermostconducivetostudents’learningofcriticalthinkingskills.Thesectionstartswithhelpingstudentsdistinguishfactsfromopinions.Itthenteachesthemhowtodetectandclarifyvaguenessorambiguityinmeaning.Bynow,studentsarereadytolearnthebasicARE(Argument=Assertion+Reasoning+Evidence)structureofanargument.Fromthere,twotypesofargument—inductiveanddeductive—andtheirrespectivesubtypesareintroduced.Justasitisimportanttolearnsoundreasoning,itisessentialtoguardagainstfaultyreasoning.Commonfallaciesareincludedandexpounded.Tofurtherexploretheothercomponentofanargument,thereisalsoaunitonuseofevidence.
Differenttypesofsupport,guidelinesforusingandtestingthesupport,andlanguageforexpressingthesupportareaddressed.
ArgumentativeDiscourseSkills
Sevendiscourseskillsfundamentaltoconductingargumentationareincludedinthissection,andtheyareSolicitingandExpressingOpinions,UsingFillersandDisclaimers,UsingandChallengingReasonsandSupport,Agreeing,Disagreeing,Questioning,andRefuting.Usefulexpressionsareintroducedforeachdiscourseskill.Amongthesevenskills,Iconsiderdisagreeing,questioning,andrefutingmoredeservingofattention,particularlyforstudentsfromcollectivisticcultureswhoarelackingpracticeofthoseskills.Livinginagroup-orientedsocietywhereharmonyisemphasizedandconfrontationavoided,studentstherehavebeenculturedtoopenlyagreebutkeepdisagreementincheck.Livinginsuchasociety,itisalsonosurprisethatthey
arediscouragedtodelveintomatterswithmultiplequestionsorchallengeothers’opinionsandthusruntheriskofbeingseenasadissidentorboat-rocker.Guidedbytheperceptionthatwesternersaremoredirect,studentsfromthesecollectivisticculturesovercompensatefortheirindirectness,andwereoftenfoundtofailtousedisclaimersandthuscomeacrossasinsensitiveorimpolite.Becauseofthesereasons,Isuggest
thattherationalebehindtheseunitsbemadeexplicitandheightenedforstudentssoastostrengthentheirincentivetolearnthosediscourseskills.Whilethegenericcriticalthinkingunitsarebetterapproachedinacertainorder,thediscourseskills,however,canbetaughtinwhicheversequenceyouseesuitableforyourstudents.Followingthesesevendiscourseskillsaresomeintegratedexerciseswherelearnerscanputintopracticetheverbalexpressionstheyhaveacquired.
DebateBasics
Tofamiliarizestudentswiththemostfundamentalconceptsandtoequipthemwiththemostbasicskillsforcompetitivepolicydebate,nineindispensableunitswereputtogetherforpreparingstudentsforcompetitivepolicydebate.ThesectionsetsoffwithbasicconceptssuchaswordingDebatePropositions,andSockIssuesandPrimaFacieCases.ItthenmovesontoaddressthestructuresandstrategiesofAffirmativeandNegativeCases.TheunitonContentandLanguageofDebateSpeechesiscomposedspecificallyforacquaintingEFLstudentswiththecontent,organizationandunique
discoursefoundindebatespeeches.EquallypivotalandchallengingforEFLlearnerswhenengagedinEnglishdebatearethetasksofcross-examinationandrefutation.Tohelpthemaskandrespondtoquestionsandrefutearguments,twounitswereconstructed:oneonGuidelines,TechniquesandLanguageofCross-examinationandtheotheronGuidelinesandLanguageofRefutation.Knowinghowshortchangedstudentsmaybeintheirresearchskills,aunit,ResearchforDebate,wasalsodesignedtofamiliarizethemwithbasicknowledgeandtoolsforconductingresearch,whichinthiscase,refersprimarilytosearchingandgatheringinformation.Theremainingthree
unitsinthissection,i.e.,EvidenceCards,Briefing,andFlowing,allpertaintospecifictechniquesuniquetocompetitivedebate.Evidencecardsandbriefingaremeanttoteachstudentshowtoorganizeandoutlinetheinformationconcerningthedebateproposition,andflowing,howtotakenotesduringthedebate.
MeetingtheNeedsofChineseEFLLearners
Inadditiontoitsuniquedesigningphilosophy,thebookhasalsoemployedothertechniquestomeettheneedsofChineseEFLlearnerswhenlearningaboutEnglishargumentation.Agoodnumberofexamples,forinstance,wereprovidedtohelpstudentsgrasptheideasorconceptsineachunitmoreeasily.Torenderthelearningprocessmorefunandmeaningful,topicsandissuesofgreaterinterestandrelevancytostudentswerechosen,andpeerperformancesfromreal-lifedebatecompetitionsweremodifiedandincorporatedintothebook.Forthepurposeofpracticeandassessment,exercisesofvariouslevelsofdifficultywereconstructedtomeettheneedsofstudentsfromdifferentlevelsofproficiency.Teacherscanselecttherightlevelofexercisefortheirstudentsasclassactivitiesorhomeworkassignments.Finally,asampledebatetranscriptisincludedintheappendixasacommendablemodelforstudentstofollow.AlongwiththedebatetranscriptisaDVDwithstudentswhograduatedfromtheEnglishDepartmentofNationalTaiwanNormalUniversityre-enactingthewholedebateaswellasmyrulingofthedebate.
ENGLISH CHINESE VIDEO EASY AND FOR publicspeaking MADE
