Reflections for Week 10: Modeling debate language and information gathering

Student level: Advanced-low to Advanced-high, depending on student. 

In my debate class this week, we were building towards two areas in particular. The first was modeling argumentative and explanatory dialogue for them.  The students did a mock-debate the previous week for practice, but I noticed while they could stand up and read about their issue, they didn’t know how to frame it as a direct contrast to the other side. I felt like they were reading an instruction-manual instead of expressing a heartfelt opinion. Consequently, I prepared handouts for them (yes, this was a hand-out heavy class, because in both instances I wanted them to have an aid or a guide for reference and a space to gather their ideas). In the first handout I organized a list of terms that could help them attach opinions to their issues. My hope was not only that they would apply some useful language, but also take ownership of the issue by addressing it in more personal terms. As well as terms that emphasized the centric approach I wanted them to take, I also gave them contrasting terms to play against what the other person said. I don’t know how much of the language I taught them became exercises in parroting and how much will be acquired, but I hope they apply them in next week’s debate. Here are the terms, reproduced from my handout:

Language:

Opinions, preferences:

I think…, In my opinion…., I’d like to…., I’d prefer…., The way I see it…., As far as I’m concerned…., If it were up to me…., I suppose…., I’m pretty sure that…., It is fairly certain that…., I suspect that….., I’m convinced that…., I honestly feel that…., I strongly believe that…., Without a doubt…., Anyone can see that….,

Disagreeing:

I don’t think that…., Don’t you think it would be better…, I don’t agree…., I’d prefer…, Shouldn’t we consider…, I see your point, but…., But what about…., I’m afraid I don’t agree…, Frankly, I doubt that…., Let’s face facts…., 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…., Many people think…, Considering…, Allowing for the fact that…., When you fully consider….,

I had them frame their issues using the provided language. To ensure they had absorbed the language instead of just reading it aloud, after a couple minutes I asked them to turn over their paper and continue. The results were mixed. Some had more trouble than others in processing or absorbing the dialogue. I was hoping Swain’s comprehensible output theory would work its magic here, with them latching on to the new language as a bridge between what they’re thinking and how they want to express it verbally. Perhaps I need to set up the exercise in a way that makes them think more, delivers the language in a more demonstrative, but passive way and doesn’t provide them quick and lazy reference-points that they can read off a piece of paper. 

Next, we did some research-gathering on the Internet, their first time collecting sources in English. This was an exercise focused on learner autonomy and seeing how well they could (a) navigate the internet, the most important multimedia tool there is, in L2, (b) be able to distinguish key-points from less important or unrelated points, (c) comprehend and summarize those points on the handout and (d) demonstrate initiative and leadership skills by directing their group-mates towards the more important sites and explaining what they found to each other. Here was my handout for that:

                                       Women and Men: Equal at Last

                                                        My TEAM is:

       Affirmative, because….                                               Negative, because….           

__________________________________ ________________________________________

            (central premise)                                                       (central premise)

Supporting details:

1) _________________________________________________________________

2) _________________________________________________________________

3) _________________________________________________________________

4) _________________________________________________________________

Research: 2 Internet Sites to support my argument:

1) Name: _________________________________________ Address:__________________________________________

2) Name: _________________________________________ Address:__________________________________________

For the most part, they worked well and did perform as I expected. Again, some students had more success in this task than others. These weaker students would give up too readily, or rely too much on the stronger students to hunt for information and summarize the salient points. Perhaps more scaffolding is needed on my part, especially in regards to the weaker students in the class. All in all, it was a productive lesson, but tweaks are needed in both cases to make them more efficient and useful for the learner.