Effective strategies for teaching the role of debating in improving the speaking ability

Debate is a very important strategy in developing speaking skills of learners effectively. Bambang definesdebate as an «activity which is used for understanding of the topic. It is done by two groups. Every group consists of three or five students. It is “pro” group and “contra” group». Maryadi said that «Debate can motivate students'thinking, moreover if they must defend their stand or opinion which is in contradiction with conviction themselves” [1].

Methods and techniques used during the lesson: following methods can be used: lecture method, demonstration method, a method of collaboration, classroom discussion method, buzz group method, brainstorming method and role play method. All these methods helped me to conduct the lessons more interesting than ever. I used the following techniques in the lesson: debate, case study, concept mapping, quiz, answering the questions, gap filling, sentence completion, think-pair-share, role play and others. A teaching method comprises the principles and methods used by the teachers to enable student learning. These approaches for teaching can be broadly classified into teacher centered and student-centered. During the lesson collaboration method allowed students to actively participate in the learning process by talking with others and listening to others’ opinions. Discussion and debating are the main example of this method. In buzz group method the group broke into sub-groups to discuss one or two specific questions or case studies. While they buzzing the students were able to exchange ideas and draw on their wide collective experiences. In mind mapping method the students worked on explanation of the terms in diagram and they were asked why the words are divided into two groups — people and jobs. Debate is an excellent method for language learning because it engages students in a variety of cognitive and linguistic ways. In case study method the students were asked to answer the questions about people and their jobs. These methods and techniques were very helpful in teaching and improving students’ speaking skills.

When teaching debate to intermediate and lower classes, it is best to start with the straight forward process of formulating and caring about their own opinions, while introducing a number of language structures, grammar issues and new vocabulary meanwhile.

Motivation: In order to motivate the students I used different techniques, methods, technical aids, visual aids, colored pictures, handouts, stickers, posters and whiteboard to show the pictures. I used role –play in order to motivate the students and to help the less motivated students take part in the lesson. Debating in the classroom can take many forms. The following debate activities offer a range of opportunities to increase student understanding and involvement with the course material. In the lesson I always observe the way students are seated. I tried and maximized eye contact and made sure students were seated at a comfortable distance from each other. While they were working I tried to motivate them and this process helped our lesson would be more interesting. I also encouraged the students to communicate openly and it helped them to feel confident and independent. I also used phrases like “You are right”, “Excellent”, “Well done”, “Good job”, “Very good” and others. These also helped me to motivate students and take an active part in the lesson. All above mentioned techniques helped me to make my lesson creative, bright and meaningful and surely to motivate my students. In my lesson I succeeded to create a warm, stimulating and friendly atmosphere.

There are a lot of advantages for using debate as follows:

1. Debate encourages class participation among those students that typically do not talk in class.
2. Most importantly, debate offers an opportunity for students to move beyond the acquisition of basic knowledge in a subject matter and progresses into the types of higher order critical thinking skills that good debate requires.
3. Debaters must analyze, synthesize and evaluate the knowledge they have acquired in order to propose, oppose and make competing choices.
4. Debate can help people develop their investigation and analysis skills.
5. People can benefit from learning how to be leader who needs to analyze a problem, win others' agreement under pressure, and persuade others to act.
6. Debate helps develop critical thinking skills.
7. People learn how to be open-minded to questions and issues. They are forced to consider the opposition's viewpoints, and anticipate others' position.
8. Debate helps develop effective speaking skills. Debaters need not only speak in front of different audiences and judges, but also apply the best principles of public speaking to select, arrange, and present their materials. They can become flexible and comfortable to speaking in public.
9. Debate helps develop organization skills. Debaters need to arrange arguments clearly and convincingly,so that the ideas can be easy to follow and hard to forget.
10. Debate helps develop team work skills, debate is a competitive activity, but it relies on cooperation. Debaters need to participate to make debate successful.
11. Debate develops people's research skills.Debate helps develop communication skills. [2]

So, a debate is a speaking situation in which opposite points of view are presented and argued.A debate is about the real or simulated issue. The learners’ roles ensure that they have adequate shared knowledge about the issue and different opinions or interest to defend. At the end of activity, they may have to reach a concrete decision or put the issue to a vote.

References:

1. Krieger, D. (2005). Teaching debate to ESL students: A six-class unit.

2. Othman, P. Z. (2013). Classroom Debate as a Systematic Teaching/Learning

3. Rubiati, R. (2010). Improving Students' Speaking Skills Through Debate Technique.