DEBATE IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

I.

Introduction
a. Definition
Debate (American English) or debating (British English) is a formal method of
interactive and position representational argument. Debating seeks to explore the
reason behind each side. To make those reasons understandable and convincing,
debaters should deliver their arguments with good communicative skills. However,
in competitive debating, actually it has some characteristics. The characteristics
include applying certain formats and focusing on superiority of the given argument,
so that at the end of the debate there will be a winner.
People debate for a number of reasons: to convince other people that his/her
opinion is better, to listen to what other people think of an issue, to find which
solution is the best for a problem, etc. Since competitive debating aims to convince
judges that a teams argument is superior, it gives opportunities to use analyticalcritical thinking and public speaking skills to the fullest, skills which are very
useful in everyday life.
b. Formal debate in education
In formal debating contest, there are rules enabling people to discuss and
decide on differences, within a framework defining how they will interact.
Informal debate is a common occurrence, but the quality and depth of a debate
improves with knowledge and skill of its participants as debaters. There are many
kinds of formal debate in education, they are Parliamentary debate, Mace Debate,
Public Debate, Australasia debate, Asian Universities Debating Championship,
Policy debate, Classical debate, Extemporaneous debate, Lincoln-Douglas debate,
Karl Popper debate, Simulated legislature, Impromptu Debate, Moot court and
mock trial, Public Forum debate, and Paris Style Debating.
Those above-mentioned debates are available for both colleges and high
school students. However, in this occasion, we focus on debates which are used for
high school students; they are Team Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and
Australasia (Australia-Asia) debate. In fact, among those three kinds of debates,
Australasia style is the one which is mostly applied in Indonesia.

II.

How To Conduct Australasia Debate In Class

A. Debate formats and rules
Australasia style debates consist of two teams who debate over an issue, more
commonly called a motion or topic or proposition. The issue, by convention, is
presented in the form of an affirmative statement beginning with "That", for
example, "That cats are better than dogs," or "This House", for example, "This
House would establish a world government." The subject of topics varies from
region to region. Most topics however, are usually region specific to facilitate
interest by both the participants and their audiences.
Each team is comprised of three members; first, second, and third speakers.
Each of the speakers' positions is based around a specific role; the first and second
speakers deliver most important argument during the debate while the third speaker
has the opportunity to make a rebuttal towards the opposing teams argument
introducing new evidence to add to their position. Using this style, the debate is
finished with a closing argument by each of the first or second speakers from each
team what so-called replier and new evidence may not be introduced. Each of the
six speakers (three affirmative and three negative) speak in succession to each
other beginning with the Affirmative Team. The speaking order is as follows: First
Affirmative, First Negative, Second Affirmative, Second Negative, Third
Affirmative, Third Negative, and then Negative replier, and the last Affirmative
replier.
For high school students, the time allotment for each speaker is different from
that for college students. For each first, second and third speaker or constructive
speaker has 5 minutes to deliver their argument. Whereas for the replier has 3
minutes to deliver the argument.
Furthermore, in a debate there are three main components that are judged from
a debaters speech, they are:
1. Content

Content is the argument used by the speaker, divorced from the speaking style,
content constitutes 40% out of the score. In content, judges would determine
whether the speakers arguments and the teams case in a whole are strong or not.
There are two processes that shape a content of speech: case building and research.

Case building
Case building is the process of putting together the teams arguments
and making sure that they are solid and consistent. In this session
debaters are usually given 30 minutes to prepare; here is little tips on
the steps of case building:
a.

Brainstorm individually.

b.

Discuss the definition including looking at the

keywords in the motion and looking at real issues in the real
world.

c.

Pick relevant arguments.

d.

Determine team line which is brought by the first

speaker and team split which is brought by second speaker.

e.

Recap the whole case

Individual preparation for giving the speech individually

Research
Reasoning and evidence do not fall automatically from the sky. In
order to know these things, a debater must read a lot of books,
magazines, encyclopedias or go surfing to several search engines in
the internet such as google and yahoo.

2. Style

Style is the way speakers speak. It is the manner in which debaters communicate
their arguments. Style constitutes 40% of the total score. Style includes many
aspects: speed of delivery, tone, volume, use of language, clarity, fluency, use of
humor, stance, gestures and expressions, and use of notes and eye contact.
3. Strategy
Strategy constitutes 20% of the total score. It covers these concepts:
a.

Whether the speaker understands what are the issues of

the debate

b.

Structure of the speakers speech

c.

Timing of the speakers speech

d.

Consistency in terms of whole case and individual

speech.

B.

Debate tips and tricks

Here are some suggested tips and tricks in debating.
(1) - You are always right - no matter what you really believe, if you want to win
then you have to know that what you say is correct and your opposition is always
wrong.
(2) - Strong central argument - after you make each point link it back to your teams
case. This makes the whole team look more prepared and gets big marks.
(3) - Rebut - if they have an incorrect fact, rebut it. If they do not link back to their
teams case, rebut it. If they give an example that has no relevance, rebut it.
Remember, the opposition is always wrong.
(4) - If you need more time, summarize - a good summary not only gets good
points, it also increases your time. If you go under time you lost points and the
same occurs if you go over. Try to find a balance.

(5) - Never insult the opposition - no matter how much you want to, don't! If you
want to insult something, do it to their argument. Don't use personal attacks if you
want to win.
(6) - Have passion - believe in what you are saying and you probably will win.
Speak from the heart, but also use logic and academic research.
Example of motions:
This house regrets the influence of Hollywood.
This house would ban surrogate motherhood.
This house believes that smokers should not get free treatment for smoking related
illnesses.
References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debate, accessed on November 3, 2008

http://homeworktips.about.com/od/speechclass/a/debate.htm, accessed on November 3,
2008

http://www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/debformats.html, accessed on November 3, 2008