Rwandz Private Technical Institute

Department: English

Academic Debate

Name: Nora Wahid Mahmood

Instructor: Mokhles S. Ibrahim

Academic Year: 2019-2020

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 :Submitted In

2020/6/9

Abstract or Summary

In the academic year (2019-2020) one important subject in the curriculum was Academic
Debate. We studied the subject and learned nearly everything about it, I can say it was set to help
and train students to seek information, produce knowledge, think critically and be readers, future
leaders and decision makers. In this course, some activities are required: general discussion and
critical thinking, seminar presentation, report writing, and academic debate.to make you
understand and get benefit from my paper, let me describe Academic debate ants its importance
for students of institutes and colleges.
We simply can say Academic Debate is a formal way of communicating. It is a method of
interactive and representational argument and it is a series of lectures for and against on a given
topic by knowledgeable persons, it is also a contest where two teams present their arguments
intent on persuading one another.
Students who participate in academic debate are learning to interact in a democratic
society. Debate allows students to develop a tolerance of new or alternative ideas, to value
competition and gain a broader knowledge of a topic.
It is really one of the interesting and inspiring subjects that we enjoyed and got benefit from was
Academic Debate.

Academic debate course is

added to first-year curriculum in

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all Universities in Kurdistan as
part
of the curricula development
process to prepare the students
to university life. This course
helps
students develop abilities and
skills in academic
communication and debate.
The topics of this
course train the students to
seek information, produce
knowledge, raise and answer
academic

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questions. It also trains them to
accept other’s points of view,
direct academic arguments,
analyze
the scientific texts logically
and critically as well as to
view the community
problems
academically to offer
appropriate suggestions to
solve such problem, i.e. they
are guided to
conduct a critical analysis of
what they read. They are also

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provided with opportunities to
practice
and develop their skills by
writing their reflections on
the material studied and on
their own
learning. All of the above can
be considered as the core of
critical thinking

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 List of Contents

Summary --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2

List of Contents --------------------------------------------------------------------------------3

Introduction -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4

Main body ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5-6

Discussion --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7-8

Conclusion --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9

References --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10

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Introduction

The importance of Academic debate made our institute to put it as one of the lessons of
.curriculum for most departments of Rwandz Private Technical Institute

?Why do we study it

Academic debate is simply defined as a debate conducted under the auspices of an educational
institution aimed at providing educational opportunities for its students. The purpose of an
academic debate is to allow evenly matched opponents to present balanced arguments and
.evidence about critical issues

Some of the benefits students gained from their debate experience include awareness and
knowledge of social issues, development of critical thinking and communication ability,
appreciation of change, and respect for academic research. The aim of it here in our classes, is “
to learn not to win the debate” because the most important thing is to be able to present both
sides of the issue and make a critical decision on matters concerning public interest.

Different kinds of debates provide students opportunities to apply their knowledge of debate
principles, develop proper attitudes and skills, and experience almost real-life debates. More
importantly, debating is to keep political and public issues alive in the hearts and minds of the
academic community and the value of academic debate for some critics is limited to discussing
social issues and developing students’ attitudes and abilities. Others see it as a structured
academic enjoyable game. In practice, however, academic debate influenced some of the most
critical issues in daily life and the society at all.  Accordingly academic researchers have proven
that the benefits of academic debates are:

*Increasing students’ self-confidence.

* It teaches them the skills of researching, organizing, and presenting information.

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* Improving the ability to structure and organize thoughts.

* Enhancing teamwork. And etc.….

Main body

What is Academic Debate? When you are reading this paper, you will encounter debate as
educational exercise. This is called Academic or Educational Debate. Academic Debate is different
from debate in the real world like the above debate in the town meeting. In the real-world debate,
the purpose is often to decide the future plan of the participants. In Academic Debate, the primary
purpose is educational training. Suppose we have a debate in this class on whether we should build
an atomic plant in our town. Even if we decide to build it, it will not actually be built. There are
several characteristics of Academic Debate for maximizing its educational benefits. There are strict
rules of speaking in terms of time, order, the use of evidence, etc. Judges often give criticism and
advice for arguments regarding both contents and skills, as well as making a decision. Academic
Debate is offered as one type of speech course at colleges, institutes and high schools in Kurdistan
and some other countries, where students are taught how to debate. It is also popular in
extracurricular activities and there are local and national level competitions. In some countries you
.may also find some classes using debate and tournaments (contests)
.Debate has been practiced for a long time in Western societies since the time of Ancient Greece
It is often used in classrooms and business training. Many leaders in politics, business, and academics
learned debate. Many of the U.S. presidents and British prime ministers used to practice debate in
schools and universities. In Japan, debating in English has an established tradition in extracurricular
clubs (mostly called English Speaking Societies). More recently, the high school curriculum for English
includes debate as one of the optional activities. Debate in Japanese is also becoming increasingly
,popular. In a typical setting of communication for Academic Debate

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A debate as a verbal communication event is primarily conducted between two matched sides which are
represented by two teams: the "affirmative" side to support the topic and the "negative" side to oppose
the topic. The topic for debate is officially called the "proposition" or "resolution" (or sometimes called a
"motion"). In classroom debates, students either sign up for those teams or the instructor may assign
them to each group. In tournaments and contests, the participating teams consist of the same number
of people and each team usually stands at least once on the affirmative side and once on the negative
side. The speakers (debaters) from the two teams in a debate then give speeches for and against the
topic or they give pros and cons of the questions under debate. They take turns giving speeches to
support their position. In some formats, they ask the other team questions after a speech (called "cross-
examination"). In this sense, they communicate with each other. The two teams not only communicate
with each other but also communicate with a third party. In many cases, the debate is presented in front
of an "audience". The affirmative and the negative teams try their best to persuade the audience to
believe their side. There are also special kinds of audience, "judges" or "critics" (or "adjudicators"). The
audience may give their decision at the end of the debate. Judges and critics also sometimes give
.comments and advice so that debaters can improve their analyses or speeches
Format of Academic Debate Academic Debate allows a variety of formats (such as the length and
number of speeches). The important point is that the affirmative and the negative sides have the same
amount of time for their speeches. A full format in a tournament is given below. The length and number
.of speeches may be decreased to fit classroom purposes

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Discussion

1-Why do we need to have plan and prepare ourselves before presentations

and seminars?

Presentations are a great way to have students practise all language systems areas
(vocabulary, grammar, discourse and phonology) and skills (speaking, reading, writing and
listening). They also build confidence, and presenting is a skill that most people will need in the
world of work. I find that students who are good presenters are better communicators all round,
since they are able to structure and express their ideas clearly.
Although some students enjoy giving presentations, other students become anxious at the
thought of presenting. I think the key to relieving some of that anxiety is preparation. If you
prepare and rehearse your presentation, you will likely feel less anxious and more confident.
Here are 4 tips on how to prepare for class presentations:

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 Rehearse. Don’t assume that you’ll be able to “wing it”. I’ve witnessed many
presentations where a student stumbles over their words, repeats the same thing 12
different ways, or simply freezes and doesn’t know what to say. You can avoid this by
rehearsing your presentation and planning what you want to cover.
 Ask your friends for feedback. Ask your roommate or friend to watch you rehearse.
Then, ask them for feedback or suggestions. Many people have nervous habits when
presenting such as saying “um” or not making eye contact. Your friend may be able to
point that habit out so you are more aware of it.
 Double check your PowerPoint presentation. If you have a PowerPoint presentation,
make sure to double check each slide for spelling or grammar errors. PowerPoint doesn’t
usually catch errors, so it’s up to you to proofread.
 Relax before class. Do something relaxing before class like listen to your favorite music
or go for a walk. Don’t stress yourself out by worrying how you’ll do on the presentation.
If you’ve prepared and rehearsed, you should be more confident in your presentation!

2-Why do we need to put our experiences in CV?

The work experience section of your CV—the part where you describe your past jobs
—is the most crucial component of your whole job application and the key sections of
your CV are your education and work experience. If you don’t get this right then your
CV will be thrown immediately.
When writing your employment history only include jobs that will be relevant, either in
terms of skills, knowledge or experience to the job you are currently applying for.
List both education and employment achievements with the most recent first. This is
because your recent attainments are likely to be more relevant and you will impress the
employer more by doing this.

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 3-What are the main purposes of academic posters?

Academic posters are an excellent way to showcase your work at conferences and meetings.
They can be used in poster presentations and serve as a summary of your project. Unlike oral
presentations, your audience may not be static so clear design and distilled content are all the
more important. Similarly to oral presentations, successful posters can generate discussion
amongst the audience members therefore it's important to have a clear plan of what to say when
stood alongside your poster. In this article, we highlight the important aspects to creating an
effective academic poster.

A poster presentation allows you to summarise your project into a concise and aesthetically
pleasing format. It is one of the main ways you will present your work when at conferences. For
this reason, you need to make sure your poster is of good quality.

Conclusion

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 This text covers the essentials of debating, especially Academic Debate in which the critical
examination of arguments and their rhetorical presentation are important. As the old saying goes,
practice is important in debate as well. Even if you do not have a chance to participate in debate, try
to apply your critical thinking skills in other communication situations. The best thing, of course,
would be to participate in debate in some form; a short format adapted to your class period, an
exchange of written speeches, or even an e-mail debate or Web-based bulletin board debate is all
possibilities. Clearly studying debate provides young adults with the skills to successfully
tackle the world around them and intelligently question that which they believe to be true or
false. Debate doesn’t only afford the opportunity to work on public speaking, but also offers
an engaging and relevant output to practice structuring an essay; providing a clear argument,
evidence to support your claims and convincing your audience to agree with you.

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References

 Let's Practice Debating in English: by Narahiko INOUE

 How to make an academic poster: by Buket Gundogan
 "Why Debate?": by Rebecca Godley

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