Foreign languages
The reason to debate in a foreign language class is obvious:
students experience a new language by using it in a special
and rigorous way. The debate process model is the same
one that students will need when they are trying to live and
do business in a second language.
Foreign Languages and Debate
Debates can take place in any language that the participants
understand.
Much can be learned even from a debate in a language we
cannot fully understand.
A considerable amount of international debating now takes
place in English because it is the world’s most popular
second language, and promoting debate in a broad range of
languages is vital.
Why Debate Is Valuable to Foreign Language Classes
Debate has been shown to be an outstandingly productive
exercise for language acquisition.
In the United States, debate has been extremely successful
in reaching out to non-English-speaking students and
enabling them to achieve considerable language facility.
Migrant worker children.
Worldwide, debating is a valued technique for learning
English.
Debaters in Japan pioneered this practice and met with great
success, often with English- speaking clubs sponsoring
debates as a tool for language acquisition.
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Debates put students in situations where they will have to
“think” in a different language.
Memorization by beginning language students equips them
with an array of words and phrases they can use to
communicate.
However, living and operating in a different culture involves
problem solving and critical processes that require the
manipulation of logical concepts, just as debating requires
students to critically analyze their own arguments and those
of others.
Debate is a mechanism for enhancing cultural and social
learning related to the language being studied. Language
operates within the context of a culture and a society and
cannot be well understood when studied in isolation: Debate
topics can be framed around these cultural and social
features.
These topics can also be framed in a way that gives
students lots of latitude in presenting their ideas, which
reduces the anxiety of learning new vocabulary words.
The topics do not have to be “serious” to facilitate a friendly
and beneficial debate in a second language.
Sample Debate Topics for Foreign Language Classes
• Country X should have a national language.
• Country X should debate in its own language.
• Country X should debate only in English.
• Switzerland has a better form of government than X.
• No foreign language should be taught in our public schools.
• Foreign language instruction should be increased in our
schools.
• The study of Latin and Greek is a needless waste of time.
• The system of government in X is preferable to that ofY.
• Vienna is a German city. [Variations suggested]
• Spain is more culturally sophisticated than Hispanic
America.
• French/German/Italian food is superior to French/German/
Italian food.
• The French language should avoid the inclusion of nonFrench words.
• The Spanish language should be globally standardized.
• The English language should be globally standardized.
• It is better to vacation in X than inY. • Sample Debate Formats for Foreign Language Classes
• Students will most likely find simple, one-on-one short
debates to be the most useful format.
• This format allows many students to par- ticipate in a short
amount of time and with a minimum of prepara- tion.
• The less “serious” topics are probably best.
• The focus here is on basic language skills and not
necessarily on elaborate new vocabulary.
• Because these debates are short and simple, strategies
are advised for keeping the audience involved as much
as possible within the format’s time constraints. • Team debates are more useful at a higher level of
language pro- ficiency.
• These debates should feature more “serious” topics that
involve more preparation.
• The focus should be on formal language use in a public
situation.
• These debates should have the audience involved either
as judges or speech givers.
• Pre-debate disclosure is very useful here to enhance the
quality of the interaction. Make sure such disclosure
takes place well in advance and in sufficient detail. • A public assembly debate is useful at various levels of
language proficiency.Topics should be distributed either
in advance for beginning speakers or more
spontaneously for more advanced students. Some
simple or complex topic is proposed, and each student
has to make a brief speech (one or two minutes) in
support of or opposi- tion to the topic.
• Cross-examination can be a useful addition to any debate
format being used for language instruction. It is
interactive but at the same time far more formal than
conversation training. Highly spontaneous, it reveals a
student’s language level. Students also find it to be very
entertaining to watch.
Conclusion
Debating can add considerably to any foreign language
classroom because it involves students in a level of critical
thinking that transcends sheer translation or conversation as
a way to learn a language.
Considerable experience globally has established this fact; it
is one of the most important contributions of debate to
society—the ability to speak and reason with each other in
more languages.