2016 Di Stefano (US)

THE MAKING OF EFL STUDENTS
INTO GREAT DEBATERS OF HUMAN RIGHTS

IN THE L2 CLASSROOM
ANA DE LA CRUZ
MARIALUISA DI STEFANO
UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY
Introduction
Second (L2) and foreign language (FL) learners1 need to master more
than grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation: the element that enables
language learners to become effective communicators is culture. Language
and culture are inseparable. When referring to this close relationship
Michael Lessard-Clouston2 affirms:
Culture and communication are inseparable because culture not only

dictates who talks to whom, about what, and how the communication
proceeds, it also helps to determine how people encode messages, the
meanings they have for messages, and the conditions and circumstances
under which various messages may or may not be sent, noticed, or
interpreted. Culture is the foundation of communication.3
Instructors of English as a second language (ESL) and of English as a

foreign language (EFL) need to provide their students authentic
opportunities for learning the target culture (TC), and EFL teachers need
to provide students with enough opportunities of exposure to the language
or its application in authentic communication.4 One of the most productive
ways to incorporate cultural content into the language classroom is film.5
Films contain valuable cultural information and linguistic diversity 6 and
allow instructors to bring critical social discourse to their classrooms. As
suggested by Mark Pegrum, instructors can use films that portray specific
historical events to “enhance students’ awareness of difference, improve
their analytical abilities, deepen their comprehension, and broaden their
views of other cultural discourses and practices.”7 Films are, therefore, a
means to teach pragmatic awareness, because of the many examples of
62 The Making of EFL Students into Great Debaters of Human Rights
pragmatic acts they portray, such as intonation, turn taking, and body
language.8 The purpose of our study is to present the use of film to teach
the pragmatic skill of argumentative speaking to adult EFL learners. In the
following sections, we introduce the milestone concepts that constitute the
base upon which we developed our classroom-action research.
Main Components of our EFL Classroom-Action

Research
Culture
Learning a foreign language and its culture offers the dual advantage in
making learners more aware of their own beliefs and values and of the
importance of seeing the world from a different perspective,9 broadening
students’ understanding of the world and of themselves. Foreign language
instructors need to identify those aspects of the target culture relevant to
their students’ learning process and the methods to bring those aspects to
life in the classroom. Teaching culture is not simply a matter of passing on
rituals and beliefs from the target culture to the students. Culture is the
reality speakers of the language construct, and it shapes social cognitive
concepts that are not likely to be immediately understood and appreciated
by outsiders.10 The challenge for instructors remains to create awareness of
the differences between the social cognitive concepts of the language
learners and those of the speakers of the target culture. Knowing and
understanding a culture means to be able to recognize stereotypes and
other cultural misconceptions, leading to more authentic communication.
The context in which learning takes place influences the approach to
teaching culture. As Patrick Moran11 asserts:
The many situations or circumstances where languages are taught affect

the nature of the culture to be learned. Perhaps the most influential factor is
whether the culture learning takes place in a foreign language context or a
second language context.12
Teaching culture in a foreign language context is more complex than in a

second language context. In the L2 context, students are immersed in the
target culture; they have the opportunity to practice the language daily in
real-life situations. In the FL context, in most cases, class time becomes
the only time students are in contact with the target language. Instructors
in this context serve as the only authentic reference to the target language,
one of the reasons culture needs to form part of the instructors’ language
lesson. When FL instructors integrate culture into their lessons, students
Ana De la Cruz and Marialuisa Di Stefano 63
have the opportunity for a more meaningful and real-life L2-based

learning experience.
Authentic Materials
The use of authentic materials integrates culture into foreign language
lessons. Authentic materials constitute works produced specifically for
native speakers,13 not produced with language learners in mind. As such,
these materials serve as an accurate source of native discourse, offering
learners a broad range of language benefits. On this matter, Kelly, Kelly,
Offner, and Vorland state:
Authentic materials give the students the opportunity to practice English,

help the students gain confidence in their English ability, expose the
students to cultural differences and customs, and help the students develop
their ability to find pertinent information quickly.14
Authentic materials are a great aid in the EFL classroom, as they provide
learners with text types and language styles not found in textbooks15 or in
the classroom and address more aspects of language use than traditional
teaching materials.
Using authentic materials has its advantages and disadvantages. The
advantages can derive from both a learner and an instructor perspective.
Specifically, authentic materials provide exposure to real language and
relate more closely to students’ needs, giving students access to real-world
intercultural discourse. 16 Authentic materials are realistic, ready-to-use,
relevant, and trigger the process of natural language acquisition for
students. 17 They provide teachers with the necessary linguistic and
structural basis to form a highly qualified teaching atmosphere 18
Disadvantages of using authentic materials in an FL class relate to type of
language, grammar, and adaptability. Unlike language textbooks, which
take students from the most basic grammar forms and vocabulary to more
complex elements, the language and grammar in authentic materials is not
presented gradually. Preparing such materials can be time consuming if
special preparation is needed, which may not be feasible or realistic.
Authentic materials appropriate to the students’ language level and
addressing topics that allow achieving instructional goals are abundant.
Film
Film proves effective material in achieving language and culture
instructional objectives in an FL class. Learning English through film
departs from the traditional practice of textbook-oriented and test-driven

language learning. 19 The customary focus on form and accuracy is
substituted by focus on meaning and communication. Films provide
realistic and meaningful contexts and often deal with modern issues
related to students’ lives. Students already have experience watching films
and television, and this familiarity can help instruction. In their 2005
study, Simon Gieve and Rose Clark20 found that European and Chinese
learners were more likely to try to learn independently through watching
films than through extensive reading. Instructors can use this interest to
develop student-centered programs and classroom activities21 that can be
intellectually stimulating, enjoyable, and challenging. Films are naturally
embedded with pragmatic examples that students can learn from, making
it a dynamic tool to teach pragmatic awareness.
Pragmatic Competence
Foreign language proficiency has historically been measured according
to leaners’ mastering the four major skills of listening, reading, speaking,
and writing. Traditionally, fluent FL learners are those who have gained a
superior command of grammar, lexis, and phonology. Knowledge of the
target culture, considered essential in language learning, has lately been
integrated into the list of skills FL learners need to acquire for
communicative competence. But for a true integration of culture into FL
teaching and learning, FL-acquisition theory has to expand its definition of
fluency to include pragmatic proficiency. FL-acquisition research
acknowledges pragmatic competence as crucial for language learners,22 an
acknowledgement that is making pragmatic competence an objective in FL
teaching and learning.
Pragmatic competence is defined as “the ability to use language
according to the cultural norms of the target language society.” 23
Pragmatic competence is not supplemental knowledge to the learners’
already-mastered grammatical knowledge but should serve an inherent
component of the learners’ communicative skills.24 Pragmatic fluency is
reflected in the learners’ ability to correlate utterances with suitable
situations. However, pragmatic functions are not readily noticeable to
learners and thus not likely to be used in the right context. FL instructors,
who want their learners to develop socially appropriate language for
situations, need to be aware that more exposure to the target language is
needed in the classroom25 in the form of explicit pragmatic instruction and
ample practice opportunities.
Argumentative Speaking Skills

A pragmatic academic skill that is particularly difficult for FL learners
to develop in either written or spoken form is argumentation. The speech
acts of stating and supporting opinions, agreeing, and disagreeing require
of learners not only an intermediate to advanced command of the language
but also the appropriate knowledge of strategies that would allow them to
conduct this type of discussion without being considered rude or
inappropriate by their interlocutors. EFL and ESL learners who develop
their argumentative skills can become successful L2 speakers at social and
academic levels.
Argumentative discourse is present in all aspects of life, personal and
professional, and also serves as a key ability for those who pursue
university studies. Developing effective argumentative skills is important
for both L1 and L2 learners. Understanding the pragmatic skill of
argumentation and being able to perform it “contribute to the
understanding of the negotiation of social structures.”26 Argumentation is
especially significant in academic settings, an essential component of
academic skills. Within the L2 acquisition field, among different language
tasks, any task involving argumentation presents the utmost cognitive
challenge for learners. 27 In order to successfully participate in an
argument, language learners must build support for their position, dissuade
support for an opponent’s position, and negotiate social and expressive
meanings.
Mastering argumentative skills represents a major step in L2 students’
learning experience. Being able to argue at an L2 level provides students a
way to position their identities, ideas, and experiences in the target culture
that make them capable of discussing and sharing their beliefs with native
speakers. By adopting a critical approach in their teaching, instructors can
help students construct meaningful discussions at the L2 level and
understand the power relations embedded in a language.
Critical Pedagogy
The aim of critical pedagogy is to help students question and challenge
traditional power relationships and the beliefs and practices that perpetuate
those relationships.28 Questioning starts by reflecting on one’s individual
practice and from an individual stance can expand to a sharing of ideas
aimed at improving teaching practice and to a fostering of respect for the
individuality of teachers and learners. In our teaching philosophy, we
believe that everything we do is influenced by our gender, race, and
ethnicity; we cannot separate these traits that make us who we are from
what we do.
Issues of gender, race, and ethnicity can bring feelings of oppression to
many people: the FL classroom can be a safe space to discuss these issues.
As Timothy Reagan and Terry Osborn29 state:
As educators, we must not only be cognizant of oppression, but must use

our teaching practice to challenge such oppression, and to help our students
learn to do the same.30
FL instructors can use their positionality to support and empower students

by using teaching materials that allow for in-depth analysis. As previously
indicated, films can be used as critical teaching materials to provide an
effective basis for the development of academic and critical thinking
skills.
Teaching an FL course entails more than the traditional focus on
language. Culture helps learners create a deeper understanding of the
language and the people who speak it. FL instructors can use authentic
artifacts from the target culture to teach students pragmatic skills
important to achieving communicative competence. In addition, FL
instructors develop a learning environment of respect for learners’
individuality and cultural backgrounds when practicing a critical approach
in their teaching. A critical approach also provides a means of having
students’ reality present in the discussions in the FL classroom.
In the previous sections, we introduced the milestone concepts that
constitute the base upon which we developed our classroom-action
research. The purpose of our study is to present the use of a film in
teaching the pragmatic skill of argumentative speaking to adult EFL
learners. Critical pedagogy is the educational-philosophy approach we
implemented to achieve this objective. The study addresses the following
research questions: What did students learn from the mock trial and debate
activities? What cultural insights did students gain from the mock trial and
debate activities?
Methodology
The Program
The Summer Immersion Program (SIP) is an eight-week summer
cultural immersion program at a large public university located in the
Rocky Mountains region of the United States. Every year, this program
hosts participants from numerous countries, including China, Japan,
Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Angola, the Democratic

Republic of Congo, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and the Dominican Republic.
The SIP program provides a summer immersion experience in which
students engage with and are surrounded by the target language (English),
leading to proficiency development in the four skills of speaking, writing,
listening, and reading as well as to a greater cross-cultural sensitivity.
Students attend three hour-long skill-based classes (listening and speaking,
reading, and writing) four days a week. The curriculum design is learner
centered, so as the classes progress, the class focus shifts from teacher-led
lessons and discussions to student-led discussions and presentations in
which the teacher acts as a facilitator. The teaching methodology is
communicative in its approach and focuses on content rather than form, a
methodological approach based on our objective to provide students with
as many opportunities for significant communication in English as
possible and grounded in our awareness of the need to develop greater
analytical and critical thinking skills among our students.
The Participants
The participants in the study comprised students from one of our
speaking classes. The class consisted of twenty-two college students aged
from 18 to 26, all from the Dominican Republic, an unplanned but
common facet since the majority of the students attending the SIP every
year usually come from the Dominican Republic.
The students were graduates of the Dominican Republic Intensive
English Program (DRIEP) and as a reward for their outstanding academic
merit were granted a scholarship to attend the SIP. The DRIEP is a ten-
month five-day-a-week intensive English program for active and newly
graduated college students. The program grants scholarships to low-
income students unable to afford English study. The main objective of the
DRIEP is to increase the Dominican Republic’s English-speaking
workforce as a means of attracting more international investors in the
service areas.
Data Collection
We used a classroom-action research approach to collect the data for
this study. Classroom-action research “typically involves the use of
qualitative interpretive modes of inquiry and data collection by teachers
(often with help from academics) with a view to teachers making
judgments about how to improve their own practices.”31
Data were collected using three forms of collection: (1) open-ended

interviews on students’ perception of the classroom activities conducted in
the speaking class; (2) researchers’ journals; (3) recordings of three class
activities, one on a court play and two on debates. The interview questions
were as follows: What did you learn with the court activity? What did you
learn with the debate activity? How do you think these activities can help
you improve your English-speaking skills? What would you like to change
or improve in these activities? In order to answer the research questions,
learners’ responses and researchers’ journals were codified and analyzed,
and video recordings of class debates were analyzed. The structure of the
speaking curriculum is presented in the following section.
The Speaking Curriculum

The SIP curriculum was developed on a human rights theme, and the
classes promoted cross-cultural awareness and critical thinking. The first
two weeks of instruction were spent discussing culture, more specifically,
cultural values. Students reflected on and discussed what culture meant to
them, the imprints of their home cultures, and created a list of their
personal values. After discussing cultures and values, students learned
about American culture and values. Students interviewed United States
citizens on their personal values and presented a list comparing these
personal values with their own. In the third week, students learned about
the United States court system to prepare for their first speaking project, a
mock trial. In this mock trial, students were required to develop a case on
child-labor abuse. This activity offered students an opportunity to practice
the vocabulary learned from reading Iqbal,32 a novel about the practice of
bonded labor in Pakistan and the boy who stood up against this practice.
From the fourth to the eighth week of instruction, students were introduced
to and engaged in debating, participating in two debates addressing the
topics of child labor and gender equality.
First Debate
Explicit instruction on debate format and debate vocabulary formed
part of the introduction to debating. We used several YouTube clips to
demonstrate examples of debates. For the first topic, students debated
child labor is better than living in poverty the results of which were
prosaic, even though students felt passionate about the activity. Students
had understood debating as altercation, and we had to intervene several
times to keep the debate progressing. Students experienced difficulty
selecting legitimate sources, implementing these sources at suitable times

in the debate, and producing solid counterarguments. We identified these
difficulties as consensus issues in our whole-class reflection following the
debate. After this first experience, we recognized the need to better
prepare our students for their next debate, and we sought a teaching
resource that could help us achieve this objective.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

To introduce the topic of human rights to the speaking class, we
discussed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Approved
by the United Nations General Assembly, the Declaration arose as a
consequence of World War II and represents the first global declaration of
rights to which human beings are naturally entitled. The Declaration thus
introduced in class, students participated in a group activity to create their
own countries, the imaginary country.
The Imaginary Country

The imaginary country is a group activity in which students act on the
following scenario: imagine that you discovered a new country where no
one has lived before and where there are no laws and no rules; you and the
other members of your group will be the settlers in this new land; you do
not know what social position you will have in the new country. Each
student has to individually list three rights he or she thinks should be
guaranteed for everyone in this new country. Once the lists are ready, the
students share and discuss within groups, selecting a list of ten rights each
group determines to be important. Students proceed to give their country a
name, create the country’s flag (or coat of arms), and transcribe their ten
chosen rights on a large piece of construction paper to share with the class.
As students presented their list to the class, we created a master list that
included the different rights from the group lists, emphasizing those
mentioned several times. After all groups presented, we posed questions to
draw out the learning points from the activity. As a way to review what
had been learned from the Declaration, we asked students to identify what
rights from their newly invented countries were protected under this
proclamation and if they would like to add to it any of the rights they had
determined for their imaginary countries. From a general analysis of
human rights, the class then progressed to the more specific topics of civil
rights, in particular the African American Civil Rights Movement.
The African American Civil Rights Movement

As our students did not know much about the African American Civil
Rights Movement, we introduced and compared information about the
movement with what students knew of civil rights. We discussed first the
meaning of civil rights and the importance of respecting and protecting all
individuals’ rights. We used the African American Civil Rights Movement
as an example of what can happen when civil rights are not respected and
what those subjugated can do to protect their rights. Students learned about
the Jim Crow laws in the South, the Montgomery Bus Boycott in
Alabama, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and Dr. Martin
Luther King’s I have a dream speech. We used several media resources to
present the African American Civil Rights Movement to help students
visualize the character and landscape of the era. The main resource was
the movie The Great Debaters. Students watched the movie outside of
class and answered a guided questionnaire. The Great Debaters is a non-
fiction film narrating the story of a debate team from historically black
Wiley College and the efforts of the debate-team coach to have the team
debate white students at white higher education institutions. The story
takes place during the 1930s, when the Jim Crow laws and lynch mobs
posed a continual threat to the black community. This film allowed us to
achieve two goals: (1) support the introduction to the debate format and to
the African American Civil Rights Movement and (2) engage the students
in cross-cultural discussions.
Second Debate
The second debate was conducted during the eighth week of
instruction with the topic Men make better leaders than women. In
addition to the experience gained from the first debate, students had a
reference in the characters of The Great Debaters of how a debater
prepares for and behaves in a debate. Some of the changes in students’
presentation demeanor included wearing formal clothes, employing a more
formal register, and using notecards that listed several possible
counterarguments. Students did not raise their voices when trying to make
a point, which had been one of the issues during the first debate. The
students also respected each other’s speaking turns. The second debate
progressed smoothly, even with such a controversial topic and a division
of class in which the female students represented the affirmative position
and the male students the opposition. Exhilaration ensued among the
students at the conclusion of the second debate, as opposed to the

frustration many had felt at the conclusion of the first.
Limitations of the Study

This study was exposed to several limitations. It included only twenty-
two participants, which can be considered a limited number. In addition,
participants in our study were all adult EFL learners participating in an
eight-week ESL program who returned to their original setting upon
completion of the program, resulting in an unusual sample. Our
participants all came from the same country, limiting the scope of the
study to one nationality—ESL classes usually comprise students from
different cultural backgrounds. Researchers in an EFL setting might face
difficulties when conducting a similar study because of the lack of
technological resources in their classrooms and students’ limited access to
online academic resources. Program and class length also posed limiting
factors. Because of these constraints, we were able to use only one movie
in our speaking class, limiting the scope of language learning available
through watching film. Other studies could expand the language objectives
in using film to teach an L2 course, and adding more films to the
curriculum could help achieve these objectives.
Findings
Data were collected from participants’ answers to four open-ended
questions, researchers’ journals, and analysis of a video depicting the last
debate, conducted after students had watched the film. The questions in
the survey addressed what students learned from the speaking activities.
We decided to keep track of codes coming from our participants, and
when something in the data stood out, we applied it as a code. We used in
vivo coding as our first-cycle coding method33 to analyze the answers from
the survey and the video. In vivo coding allowed us to determine
keywords and phrases that were common among participants. Once codes
were categorized, we compared them. Subsequently, we used a second-
cycle pattern-coding method 34 to recognize similarly coded data and to
further summarize or consolidate the data into subcategories. The research
findings were again reviewed then triangulated.
First-Level Coding
We completed the initial coding phase through the process of in vivo
coding. In vivo codes “use the direct language of participants as codes
rather than researcher-generated words and phrases.” 35 In vivo coding
prioritizes and honors the participants’ voice,36 thus is ideal for research on
educational practice that promotes critical language pedagogy. In vivo
coding is also “quite applicable to action and practitioner research since
one of the genre’s primary goals is to frame the facilitator’s interpretations
of terms that participants use in their everyday lives.”37
The in vivo coding of the data established the following labels: public
speaking, vocabulary, researching topics, organizing and supporting
ideas, and court system. We will address all these topics in the following
paragraphs.
Public speaking. The data analysis revealed that public-speaking

ability was a relevant outcome from the debate and court activities.
Participants expressed that taking part in the speaking activities boosted
their ability to address a large audience. Many participants also stated that
before the debates they had feared public speaking in English but became
more confident in their skills to properly conduct themselves in a public-
speaking setting.
Vocabulary. Participants stated that through the debates and court case
they were able to improve their L2 vocabulary. Students had to learn
technical vocabulary that would allow them to engage in productive
discussions in the activities. The proper use of this new vocabulary was
present in the video data analyzed. Students used phrases that aided their
performance in the debates and that were not part of their vocabulary at
the beginning of the program.
Researching topics. Participants considered learning the skills to

research the debate topics a major accomplishment, revealing they had
never researched topics to discuss in their previous EFL courses.
Participants viewed researching topics in their second language as a skill
that could later help them if they decided to pursue graduate school in an
English-speaking country. The video analysis supports participants’
statements on topic research. Video analysis also demonstrated that all
students who participated in the debate supported their points of view with
scholarly sources.
Organizing and supporting ideas. Data analysis revealed that

organization of ideas and support of ideas stood as two of the most salient
labels. Participants stated that debating helped them organize what they
had to say and be attentive when choosing how to support their points of
view. Students viewed organization as an important skill when
participating in debates, asserting that supporting their ideas made their
cases stronger and helped them win their debates.
Court system. From the data analysis, learning about the US court
system surfaced as a relevant label. Participants stated that participating in
a mock trial helped them learn about how court cases function in the
United States. Students appreciated learning about the US court system,
because it opened a window to an aspect of American culture not normally
taught in their EFL courses.
Second-Level Coding
We conducted second-level coding to analyze the relationship between
themes resulting from the first-level coding, employing the method of
pattern coding in this second-level phase. During the second-level coding
process, we recoded the data from the first-level coding and grouped the
five labels into two categories or themes. These themes were used to
identify what students learned in the speaking class. Learning was
categorized into two metacode themes: learning about culture (academic
and general) and argumentative speaking skills. Pattern codes are
“explanatory or inferential codes, ones that identify an emergent theme,
configuration, or explanation.”38 Pattern codes allow the grouping of a lot
of material into a more meaningful unit of analysis.39
The first meta-code theme, learning about culture, includes the initial
first-level coding labels of court system and researching topics. We found
that these two labels contained the main cultural learning gained from the
speaking activities. The second metacode, argumentative speaking skills,
includes public speaking, vocabulary, and organizing and supporting
ideas. This theme represents the most relevant L2 learning outcomes
participants gained from debating. Improving students’ argumentative
speaking skills was the main objective of the speaking curriculum: data
analysis shows that participants considered their argumentative skills to
have improved throughout the program.
Triangulation
We conducted validation in the data analysis through the process of
triangulation. We triangulated the three forms of data collected in this
study: answers to open-ended survey questions, researchers’ journals, and
analysis of videos. The first-level coding labels of researching topics,
vocabulary, public speaking, self-confidence, organizing and supporting
ideas, and respect were present in students’ performance in the debate as
demonstrated in the video. Debate participants were organized, respected
each other, established persuasive arguments, and based these arguments
on scholarly sources. Students demonstrated organization by using
itemized lists of discussion points and addressing each point in the
prepared order. They respected their opponents’ position and did not
interrupt. They employed vocabulary learned from The Great Debaters,
vocabulary related to the debate topic of gender inequality, and rhetorical
questions to strengthen their statements and contest the statements of their
opponents.
Debaters showed confidence, and though we observed traces of
hesitation, they compensated for this with enthusiasm and passion during
the activity. Researching topics represented the most salient label in the
debate, the only first-level coding label that can be applied to characterize
the performance of all the participants. All participants used scholarly
sources to support their arguments and to counter those of the opposing
team. Court system was the only first-level coding label we did not find
while analyzing the video, since court system is a label generated from the
students’ experience participating in a mock trial and not from the debate
recorded in the video. We found the court system label in the research
journal notes as one of the themes we introduced during classroom
instruction.
For the analysis of the answers to the four open-ended survey
questions, we used in vivo coding as our first-level coding strategy in
order to identify relevant codes and maintain the voices of the participants.
The questions in the survey addressed what students had learned from the
speaking activities. The codes generated from this first-level stage were
public speaking, vocabulary, researching topics, organizing and
supporting ideas, and court system. We used pattern coding as our second-
level coding strategy and grouped our first five labels into two meta-codes:
culture and argumentative speaking skills. The analysis of these primary
and secondary codes follows.
Discussion
The findings of our study provided us with significant data to answer
our research questions. Overall, these findings show that students who
participated in this study considered the speaking activities helpful in
improving their communication skills and L2 cultural knowledge. In this
section, we will develop connections between the literature and the results
of our data. We will use quotes from our participants to aid the analysis of
the collected data as well as to establish connections with the literature.
Research Questions
Research question one (RQ1): What did students learn from the
mock trial and debate activities? Based on the shared views from
students who participated in the study, we identified three frequent
academic learning achievements from the speaking activities: (1)
vocabulary, (2) organization and support of ideas, and (3) ability to speak
in public. These three factors constitute the meta-category of argumentative
speaking skills. Argumentation serves as an essential component of
academic skills, but because of its complexity, argumentation can be
challenging for L2 learners. 40 L2 students might not be aware of the
pragmatics rules needed to engage in argumentative speech. As one
participant stated in the interview:
I haven’t done a debate before, at first I was insecure I didn’t know what to
say or to do or the way I have to do it, but then I learn the rules and watch
the movie and it was easier. I improve my speaking skill, now I organize
my ideas with sense.
Language learners rely on previous L1 experiences to communicate in

the L2. For many adult L2 learners, their L2 socialization and academic
learning begins after their primary socialization and academic learning in
their original cultures have been completed.41 Not having an L1 experience
to guide a particular language task makes difficult the learning of this task
in the L2.
Learning vocabulary supports students’ communicative competence.
Participants asserted that taking part in the debate and mock trial helped
them learn vocabulary. The students’ vocabulary learning was not limited
to the classroom. In order to perform well in the speaking activities,
students had to prepare for their participation prior to coming to class,
using vocabulary learned from researching the debate topics and from
watching The Great Debaters. One participant reflected on her vocabulary

learning in her interview:
Well, these activities will help us in a very good way, because while we are
searching for information we can learn new words and improve our
vocabulary and also speaking in these activities. Also we learn new words
watching the movie, we can feel comfortable to speak and we are
practicing while we are speaking.
The vocabulary learning through watching a film that the participants

refer to corresponds to scholarly research on vocabulary acquisition.
According to Cees Koolstra and Jonannes Beentjes, 42 materials that
provide visual input, such as movies, may be conducive to incidental
vocabulary learning.
Besides learning vocabulary, participants viewed The Great Debaters
as a means to improve their debating skills, as stated in one interview:
How they were dressed (in the movie) also indicates how professional they
look and that influences the audience. It's important [to] wear appropriate
clothing. As well, being convincing in what it is saying it's very important
in a debate. The movie, it's a helpful tool to improve your technique as a
debater.
Students regarded the film as a model to follow to prepare physically

and intellectually for debating. This preparation began with organizing
their ideas, a significant theme represented in the data. The importance
participants assigned to learning to organize ideas corresponded to the
difficulty they faced when engaging in argumentative speaking activities.
When L2 learners speak, they need a clear understanding of the topic they
are addressing. If the topic is new, the L2 learners need to learn the
vocabulary required to discuss that topic. Once familiar with this new
vocabulary, the students need to be able to recall it to use it in the proper
context. Therefore, organizing ideas facilitates the cognitive process of
recalling information and aids in the communicative execution.
Participants regarded public speaking skills as a relevant achievement
from the speaking activities, as indicated in the following two statements:
The debate helped my skills a lot. I feel more comfortable speaking in

English in public and I learned many new words. (Student interview)
It (the debate) helped me because it forced me to look for information

about the topic then express my thought in front of everybody in the
classroom and it was so helpful for me, because I was afraid to speak in
public. Speaking and sharing ideas with each other is the best way in order
for improving your English. (Student’s interview)
Speaking in public can make L2 learners nervous. One of the first

hurdles L2 students must surpass is conquering the fear of public speaking.
The first time L2 learners speak in public represents a rite of passage. It
allows students entry into the L2 community of practice, a new
sociocultural and linguistic environment for them.43 Culture permeates this
new linguistic environment, thus making students’ learning of L1 cultural
imprints an important element to guarantee successful communication.
Research question two (RQ2): What cultural insights did students

gain from the mock trial and debate activities? We identified two
cultural insights participants attained from the mock trial and debate
activities, contained in the labels researching topics and court system.
Numerous participants asserted they had never researched topics in their
second language to present an academic argument. The SIP was the
students’ first exposure to learning the second language through content,
content-based instruction that requires learners to have a deep knowledge
of the target culture.44 Student topic research provides an experience of
academic culture in the United States. As the following participants stated
in their interview:
First of all, we learned to do research in English. Also we are using new

words and new topics from the culture that we don’t usually use in
everyday life. (Student’s interview)
I learned that I have to have good sources to debate and that this is a good
way to learn how to organize your ideas at the moment of speaking and
how to persuade others. (Student’s interview)
It was good to learn about more things not only from a class book. I think
this (researching) could help me if I study in English later. (Student’s
interview)
Participants viewed their experience in topic research as an aid to their

learning and related it to their perception of academic learning in higher
education institutions in the United States:
I learned that to have good resources to debate help you to prepare a better
argument. It was a good practice for me because I will like to study in a
U.S. university. (Student’s interview)
The speaking curriculum promoted engagement in discussion in which

students had to adopt a critical stance on the debate topics. That we were
able to work on the students’ language needs as well as their critical
thinking skills is reflected in the following comments:
I think that the most important thing I learned was to defend something
that I really didn’t believe and find different and multiples perspectives for
one topic. (Student’s interview)
I learned how to support my arguments with information from the books. I

also learned to debate analyzing from different points of view. I now know
more about child labor and poverty and can talk about those topics and be
critical. (Student’s interview)
Participating in discussions on topics beyond those typical of an L2

class (weather, food, clothing, and festivities) allows students to develop
their L2 critical thinking skills. The other theme participants perceived as
related to American culture comprised what they learned about the US
court system. To participate in the mock trial activity, students had to learn
about how the US court system functions. Students reflected on this
learning and compared it to how a court case is handled in their native
country:
I learned too much because the court system is different to Dominican

Republic. For example here you have a jury, not over there. I learned that
you have to use very well the evidence and not be afraid of what do you go
to say, just say the true sure of yourself. And not be nervous or not sure
about what you go to say or you will lost the case in spite of you have the
reason. (Student’s interview)
With this activity I learned how to perform a court and how it works. I
learned what are the things that we have to know, to become part of a
court. I also learned that here in the U.S. you are available to be part of a
jury member since you are over 18 years old. In the DR we don’t use a
jury, the judge decides who wins the case. I learned about the US laws.
(Student’s interview)
I learned more about the American culture and about American laws. Also
I learn their way to make lawsuits and how a jury have to be or act in a
court activity. It was the first time I did something like it. (Student’s
interview)
The court activity was really fun, I haven’t done something like that
before. I learned about American laws, the different law terms, the role of
each people in a court, and of course it helped me with my speaking skill.

(Student’s interview)
We provided learners an opportunity to understand an element of the

target culture rarely addressed in a language class, an opportunity that led
students to compare the Dominican court system to the American one.
Comparing and contrasting elements from the target to the native culture
provides effective means to engage students in critical analysis in the
second language.45 It is important that instructors help students see that
difference does not mean good or bad. Identifying differences is a means
to examine these differences and reach an understanding of the target
culture. For those adopting a critical approach to language teaching, the
students’ critical examination and understanding of the target culture
becomes a central goal.46
Conclusion
L2 learning provides those from non-English speaking backgrounds
access to the resources of native English speakers. Social representations
and meanings are constructed and negotiated through discourse. L2
learning instruction that is geared toward incorporating the discourse of
the main speech community has the potential to disrupt unequal relations
of power.
Culture is the main element that encompasses and ties together
discourse communities. Students who learn a second language isolated
from its cultural imprints do not acquire the skills to become critical
thinkers and productive L2 communicators. Regardless of the L2 learning
context, foreign or second, students benefit from a teaching approach that
strives to use elements from the target culture that aid understanding.
Understanding of the target culture leads to L2 fluency.47 One of the ways
L2 instructors can incorporate the target culture into their classrooms is
through the use of authentic materials such as films. Films allow for the
teaching of pragmatic language skills that have been commonly left out of
traditional L2 instruction, one of these skills is argumentative speaking.
When instructors make the teaching of pragmatic skills—such as
argumentation—part of their curriculum, they provide L2 students an
opportunity to learn more than just grammar rules and vocabulary. They
bestow on their learners an understanding of the sociolinguistic and socio-
pragmatic rules that govern L2 interaction.48
This study shows that adult L2 students learn from and appreciate
speaking activities that require knowledge of the target language and that
require them to be critical thinkers. L2 learners need more instruction time
dedicated to engaging and challenging speaking activities. A traditional

focus on grammar rules and memorization of vocabulary does a disservice
to L2 students and denies them the opportunity to develop critical thinking
skills in their second language.
Notes
1
By L2, we refer to English teaching and learning that takes place in a native
English-speaking country. By EFL, we refer to English teaching and learning that
takes place outside a native-English-speaking country.
2
Michael Lessard-Clouston, “Towards an Understanding of Culture in L2/FL
Education,” Ronko, KG Studies in English 25 (1997): 131–150.
3
Ibid., 24.
4
Gölge Sefero÷lu, “Using Feature Films in Language Classes,” Educational
Studies 34, no. 1 (2008): 1–9.
5
Lynda Chapple and Andy Curtis, “Content-Based Instruction in Hong
Kong: Student Responses to Film,” System 28, no. 3 (2000): 419–433; Sefero÷lu,
“Films in Language Classes,” 1–9; Stuart Webb and Michael PH Rodgers, “The
Lexical Coverage of Movies,” Applied Linguistics 30, no. 3 (2009): 407–427;
Shannon Kelly Brown, “Popular Films in the EFL Classroom: Study of
Methodology.” Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 3 (2010): 45–54.
6
Chapple and Curtis, “Student Responses to Film,” 419–433.
7
Mark Pegrum, “Film, Culture and Identity: Critical Intercultural Literacies for the
Language Classroom.” Language and Intercultural Communication 8, no. 2
(2008): 146.
8
Zsuzsanna Ittzes Abrams, “Using Film to Provide a Context for Teaching L2
Pragmatics,” System 46 (2014): 55–64.
9
Raúl Ruiz Cecilia and Juan Ramón Guijarro Ojeda, “What Can Multicultural
Literature Do for the EFL Classroom,” In Proceedings of the International Online
Conference on Second and Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 2007,
http://www.readingmatrix.com/onlineconference/proceedings2007.html.
10
Paulo Freire, Teachers As Cultural Workers: Letters to Those Who Dare Teach,
(Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2005).
11
Patrick R. Moran, Teaching Culture: Perspectives in Practice, (Boston, MA:
Heinle & Heinle, 2001), 6.
12
Ibid.
13
Matthew Peacock, “The Effect of Authentic Materials on the Motivation of EFL
learners,” ELT journal 51, no. 2 (1997): 144–156.
14
Charles Kelly, Lawrence Kelly, Mark Offner, and Bruce Vorland, “Effective
Ways to Use Authentic Materials with ESL/EFL Students,” The Internet TESL
Journal 8, no. 11 (2002): 3.
15
Peacock, “Effect of Authentic Materials,” 144–156.
16
Ibid, 144–156.
17
Caroline C. Hwang, “Effective EFL Education Through Popular Authentic
Materials.” Asian EFL Journal 7, no. 1 (2005): 90–101.
18
Aytunga Oguz and H. Ozge Bahar, “The Importance of Using Authentic
Materials in Prospective Foreign Language Teacher Training,” Pakistan Journal of
Social Sciences 5, no. 4 (2008): 328–336.
19
Jane King, “Using DVD Feature Films in the EFL Classroom,” Computer
Assisted Language Learning 15, no. 5 (2002): 509–523.
20
Simon Gieve and Rose Clark, “‘The Chinese Approach to Learning’: Cultural
Trait or Situated Response? The Case of a Self-Directed Learning Programme,”
System 33, no. 2 (2005): 261–276.
21
Chapple and Curtis, “Student Responses to Film,” 419–433.
22
Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig and Robert Griffin, “L2 Pragmatic Awareness:
Evidence from the ESL classroom,” System 33, no. 3 (2005): 401–415; Karen
Kreutel, “‘I'm not agree with you.’ ESL Learners’ Expressions of Disagreement,”
TESL-EJ 11, no. 3 (2007): 1–35.
23
Kreutel, “ESL Learners’ Expressions,” 2.
24
Melinda Edwards and Kata Csizér, “Developing Pragmatic Competence in the
EFL Classroom,” English Teaching Forum 42, no. 3 (2004): 16–21.
25
Kenneth R. Rose, “On the Effects of Instruction in Second Language
Pragmatics.” System 33, no. 3 (2005): 385–399.
26
Reza Ghafar Samar, Afsaneh Abaszadeh, and Fatemeh Pourmohamadi.
“Investigating Disagreements Through a Context-Specific Approach: A Case of
Iranian L2 Speakers,” Applied Research on English Language 3, no. 5 (2014): 87.
27
Nóra Németh and Judit Kormos, “Pragmatic Aspects of Task-Performance: The
Case of Argumentation,” Language Teaching Research 5, no. 3 (2001): 213–240.
28
Thomas S. Popkewitz and Lynn Fendler, Critical Theories in Education:
Changing Terrains of Knowledge and Politics (London: Routledge, 1999).
29
Timothy G. Reagan and Terry A. Osborn. The Foreign Language Educator in
Society: Toward a Critical Pedagogy (Mahwah, NJ: Routledge, 2001), 138.
30
Ibid.
31
Stephen Kemmis and Robin McTaggart, “Communicative Action and the Public
Sphere,” The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research 3 (2005): 561.
32
Francesco D’Adamo, Iqbal (New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks, 2003).
33
Johnny Saldaña, The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers (Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Ltd., 2012), 61.
34
Ibid.
35
Ibid.
36
Ibid.
37
Ibid., 91.
38
Ibid., 210.
39
Ibid.
40
Németh and Kormos, “Pragmatic Aspects of Task-Performance,” 213–240.
41
Xingsong Shi, “Gender, Identity and Intercultural Transformation in Second
Language Socialisation,” Language and Intercultural Communication 6, no. 1
(2006): 2–17.
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THE MAKING OF EFL STUDENTS

INTO GREAT DEBATERS OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Culture and communication are inseparable because culture not only

Instructors of English as a second language (ESL) and of English as a

Main Components of our EFL Classroom-Action

The many situations or circumstances where languages are taught affect

Teaching culture in a foreign language context is more complex than in a

have the opportunity for a more meaningful and real-life L2-based

Authentic materials give the students the opportunity to practice English,

departs from the traditional practice of textbook-oriented and test-driven

Argumentative Speaking Skills

As educators, we must not only be cognizant of oppression, but must use

FL instructors can use their positionality to support and empower students

Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Angola, the Democratic

Data were collected using three forms of collection: (1) open-ended

The Speaking Curriculum

selecting legitimate sources, implementing these sources at suitable times

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Imaginary Country

The African American Civil Rights Movement

students at the conclusion of the second debate, as opposed to the

Limitations of the Study

Public speaking. The data analysis revealed that public-speaking

Researching topics. Participants considered learning the skills to

Organizing and supporting ideas. Data analysis revealed that

Language learners rely on previous L1 experiences to communicate in

watching The Great Debaters. One participant reflected on her vocabulary

The vocabulary learning through watching a film that the participants

Students regarded the film as a model to follow to prepare physically

The debate helped my skills a lot. I feel more comfortable speaking in

It (the debate) helped me because it forced me to look for information

Speaking in public can make L2 learners nervous. One of the first

Research question two (RQ2): What cultural insights did students

First of all, we learned to do research in English. Also we are using new

Participants viewed their experience in topic research as an aid to their

The speaking curriculum promoted engagement in discussion in which

I learned how to support my arguments with information from the books. I

Participating in discussions on topics beyond those typical of an L2

I learned too much because the court system is different to Dominican

each people in a court, and of course it helped me with my speaking skill.

We provided learners an opportunity to understand an element of the

dedicated to engaging and challenging speaking activities. A traditional

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