How to use Debates to Improve Spoken English skills
A debate is a discussion between two teams on a specific subject or topic, which engages every member of the club and is an excellent way to help learn English.
Convert the English classroom in to two debate teams
The classroom is divided into two teams. One team then argues ‘for’ the topic and the other team argues ‘against’ the topic. The members of the club need to be able to give reasons behind their opinions and the teams alternate in giving their opinions. There should be equal numbers on each team.
One of the members of the club can be the judge who then decides which team is the winner at the end of the debate.
Debating can improve fluency, vocabulary and confidence
Adults and teenagers have opinions on many of today’s main issues and debating is a great way to help improve the fluency of their English. By choosing popular debating topics everyone will be able to express their own opinions with people they know without feeling embarrassed.
If the topic is given in advance and the team knows whether they are ‘for’ or ‘against’ the topic being debated, then they can research the topic together and plan what they want to say. By allowing the students’ time to research the topic they can learn new vocabulary to strengthen their case ‘for’ or ‘against’ the topic being debated.
All the students need to be encouraged to participate in the debate. Before the judge makes a decision as to which team wins the debate, both teams need a few minutes to prepare a summary of their arguments and the judge then decides which team has made the strongest case either ‘for’ or ‘against’ the topic and chooses which is the winning team. The students in the debate need to be able to relate to the subject they are discussing.
Here are some sample debate topics perfect to try in your English speaking classrooms:
- Are computers becoming too important in education today?
- Is technology ruining our lives?
- Is shopping on the high street better than shopping in large supermarkets?
- Is compulsory military service a good idea as happens in Switzerland?
- Is the content of a speech less important than the delivery?
- Is having a royal family an advantage?
- Do we need religion?
- Can women have a family and a successful career?
- Does war solve world problems?
- Is living in the countryside healthier than living in towns?
- Is living in a big family better than living in a small family?
- Can using social networking sites be dangerous?
- Do we need to be happy in our jobs?
- Does television increase the amount of violence in the world today?
- Should school uniform be compulsory in all schools?
- Should voting in elections be compulsory as it is in Australia?
It can be worrying to speak out loud when learning English as a second language, but debating is a great way to both practice speaking English with friends together with learning new vocabulary and increasing fluency. Debating helps improve one’s listening skills, as one has to listen to other people’s opinions. Debating helps one learn to speak slowly and clearly and to be understood by others. Debating is also an excellent way to learn ’thinking’ skills in an analytical way.
