1.3.8. Speaking: Debate

A. Study some of the useful phrases to state and defend your opinion.

Opinions and Preferences:

I think…, In my opinion…, I’d like to…, I’d rather…, I’d prefer…, The way I see it…, As far as I’m concerned…, I suppose…, I suspect that…, I’m pretty sure that…, It is fairly certain that…, I’m convinced that…, I honestly feel that…., I strongly believe that…, Without a doubt,…, Frankly, I’m of the opinion…, It seems to me that…, From my point of view…, From my perspective…

Disagreeing:

I don’t think that…, Don’t you think it would be better…, I don’t agree, I hate to disagree with you but…, I respect your opinion but…, I’d prefer…, Shouldn’t we consider…, But what about…, I’m afraid I don’t agree…, Frankly, I doubt if…, The truth of the matter is…, The problem with your point of view is that…

Giving Reasons and Offering Explanations:

To start with,…, The reason why…, That’s why…, For this reason…, That’s the reason why…, Many people think…., Considering…, Allowing for the fact that…, When you consider that…, The point I’m trying to make is…

B. Follow the steps below to conduct a debate in class/online.

As a class, choose one topic from the list below.
Form two teams. One team will argue FOR the proposition and the other AGAINST. Prepare your arguments. Each person of the team has only 3 minutes to talk. That is why the arguments should be divided equally among team members and not too long. You must listen carefully to what your opponents are saying and take notes, because after all the arguments have been presented, each student will be given 1 min. to argue against the arguments that the other team gave. Remember to use the useful phrases for stating, supporting and defending your opinion.
Team members present their arguments for 3 min. Teams alternate with their FOR and AGAINST arguments.
When all the arguments have been presented, the teams have about 10 min. to plan their counter-arguments. Pick certain arguments to counter and decide who will negate which argument.
Each team member has 1 min to negate the other team’s arguments.
The teacher decides which team gave the best and strongest arguments.

Topics to debate:

A well-trained soldier is a well-trained peacekeeper.
Peacekeepers should be allowed to use force.
The UN should be the ‘armed police’ of the world.
Wars can be stopped by peacekeeping missions.