Making debate your biggest asset in the TEFL classroom

As a language teacher, the last thing you want your classroom to be is quiet. Most of the time, anyway!

The days of learning a language by rote aren’t over, per se, but there are significant drawbacks . These include lack of focus, lack of enthusiasm from students, and perhaps most importantly, fewer opportunities for creativity and critical thinking. Meanwhile, participatory, creative tasks aren’t only great fun, they’re also a fantastic way to boost proficiency and get students on the path to self-directed study. A fine example of this is by holding debates in the classroom.

Often we think of debates in a divisive, political context. When it comes to your English learners, we want to stray as far away from that as possible! We’re talking food, music, etiquette, sport - anything where gentle disagreement can occur and be articulated successfully. Not only is this an invigorating way for students to socialise within your class, but it’s also a fun way to have your students argue a case in English - potentially arguing for something they don’t necessarily agree with!

How can it be done? Let’s take a look!

Preparation

Firstly, put your class into two groups. One group will argue for one side of an argument, and the other group will argue against it. You can take suggestions from pupils regarding the topic of the debate, or come up with some of your own. Keep it light, for example: “Jaffa cake: cake or biscuit?”, “K-pop will overtake American pop music”, “TikTok is the best social media platform”, etc. Gentle topics that appeal to a broad audience will make for a fun and lively debate.

Each team will have to do their research and put together arguments - in English! As a teacher, you’ll be grading pupils on their communication skills, their ability to work as a team, and what they’re bringing to the group in general. 

Once each team has had ample time to work on their arguments, you can decide how many participants from each side will get to speak, and for how long. Once each team nominates their speakers, you can set a date for debate. Exciting!

Time to debate!

The first rule of the English debate club is that the debate must be in English. There will be moments where students might need a bit of help here and there, especially if they’re younger, but in general, English must be spoken as much as possible.

You can decide on your own scoring system, as a teacher, based on a variety of factors. The most important is how convincing an argument was made, with other factors including how well it was delivered, vocabulary, originality of arguments and the level of research. 

In terms of delivery: how accurate was the pronunciation? Did each speaker express themselves clearly? Were their arguments articulate and well thought-out? In terms of research: did their arguments surprise you, or did they seem obvious? Clearly, the age group and level of proficiency matter here. Don’t expect Oxford-level rhetoric from primary school pupils. Still, if you can motivate your students to a high enough standard, they’ll want to win the debate, and they’ll come up with some interesting points!

The team with the highest number of winning arguments wins the debate, but each student can be graded based on their individual successes. So, if a pupil is on the “losing” team, they still might’ve made a fantastic argument and presented clearly, with excellent grammar and pronunciation. They shouldn’t be penalised because their team lost the debate!

The most important parts of the debate are establishing some confidence in spoken English, and having fun. The argument has to be extremely low-stakes - that way, the losing team doesn’t feel too disappointed!

The discussion

Bring the class together, and allow members from each team to list what they found convincing from their opposite group’s arguments. Let each group talk about what the other did well, and what they might’ve done differently next time. 

Then, you can ask your class to vote on the issue being debated, and see if it differs from the result of the debate. While the debate itself - and the result - is largely immaterial, it’s still enjoyable for your class to see if the result might’ve been different. What if one group made slightly different arguments?

As for learning outcomes: each student should’ve learned some new words and phrases. They should’ve learned some new ways to think about communicating in English, and they should’ve learned about rhetoric . Being able to argue a case, and speak persuasively, is a valuable asset in any language - just ask Lachesis Braick , a guest on the ‘ I Taught English Abroad ’ podcast who has translated in English courts! 

You’ve also encouraged students to research English phrases they might not have otherwise encountered. Equally, encouraging students to research the right phrases to use is helping them to engage with English in a way that involves determination and self-direction. These are very important traits to have.

As a final task, it might be worth having each team provide colourful posters with their presented arguments. This is another amusing, creative task, and these posters can be hung on your classroom wall to remind your students of the great time they had debating in class! They can also remind you of why you fell in love with TEFL teaching .

Will you try a TEFL debate?

Put simply, debates are an ideal way to spark engagement in a classroom. Whether that’s between you and students, or between groups of pupils themselves, debates can bring people out of their shells. 

Debates also force English learners to pick up words and phrases they might not otherwise use. Whether you’re debating the price of sweets, green spaces in cities or whether birthday cakes ought to be phased out in favour of something else, chances are your students aren’t going to be prepared with all the vocabulary they need for a given topic. That’s a good thing, and the learning process - especially when it’s self-directed - is to be celebrated and encouraged.

There’s also a performance element to a debate. Students who are particularly competitive, or simply want to represent themselves well, will really care about the precision and delivery of their English. That’s a great thing, and it’s a good habit to encourage. 

There’s a lot to gain from trying debates in the classroom. Provided you don’t stray into any controversial topics debates can liven up any classroom, and spark a long-term interest in English. Debates can turn reluctant students into engaged ones and engaged students into life-long enthusiasts.

Don’t want to wait to start your TEFL journey? You don’t have to. Start a TEFL course today with the most accredited course provider on the planet!