Eduard Moyà Antón (e.moya@uib.

cat)
Lidia Mª Cuadrado Payeras (lidiamaria.cuadrado@uib.eu)
21976 – English for Education and Social Work

Debate Topics: English for Education and Social Work

These are the topics you may be asked about in your oral exam, which will run
according to the structure we have seen in class. You are advised to prepare the
questions at home in advance, and bear in mind that you are supposed to interact
with your partner during the oral exam interview. In the exam, give reasons to ground
your opinion on the topics given and expect to respond to your partner/s’s opinion in
turn.

Please note that many of these questions are designed to be controversial just to
encourage debate. We will not grade you on the content of your answer – that is, we
will not grade your answer according to how much we personally agree with you –
but on your English (fluency, accuracy, range of usage…). You are free to play
Devil’s advocate (or, if coming into the exam with a partner, planning your responses
so that each has an opposing view), so long as the debate remains respectful.

If one of the topics has not been reviewed in class, we will not ask questions about it
on the exam. You will receive confirmation of the topics before the exam.

Week 1: Addictions

● In your opinion, is addiction a choice or an illness? Why?

● What are, in your opinion, the best ways to support a person who is struggling
with substance abuse?

Week 2: Senior Citizens

● In your opinion, should younger citizens pay for the healthcare of the senior
population? Why or why not?
● What is, in your opinion, the biggest problem that senior citizens face
nowadays in Spain?

Week 3: Disabilities
 ● Do you think that there are sports for everybody? Why or why not?
● In your opinion, is society inclusive of disabled people? In what ways is it/isn’t
it?

Week 4: Children and Youth

● In your opinion, are children today happier than a hundred years ago? Why or
why not?
● In your opinion, is it easier to be a parent now than a hundred years ago?
Why or why not?

Week 5: Immigration, Refugees

● Do you think that immigration should be strongly or weakly regulated? Why?,

i.e. Do you think that we should allow anyone who wants to enter a country to
go to it? Why or why not?
● In your opinion, is the best approach for migration crises to try to improve
conditions at the country of emigration or to improve assistance in receiving
countries, and why?

Week 6: Criminality

● In your opinion, is there anything that can be done differently in society to

improve crime rates? i.e., is there anything that we can do, as a society, to
help people avoid criminal behaviour?
● In your opinion, should it become legal to use some recreational drugs
therapeutically? Why or why not?

Week 7: Families and Different Ways of Parenting

● In your opinion, is it a bad or a good idea to showcase ‘diverse’ families

(LGTBQ+, single mothers…) in mainstream media? Why?
● Are, in your opinion, children of homosexual couples or single parents at a
social disadvantage against children of heterosexual couples? Why or why
not?

Week 8: Families and Unemployment

● Do you think that parents should make children pay for rent once they are
over eighteen years old? Why or why not?
● Is it, in your opinion, easier or more difficult to find a job nowadays than it was
in your grandparents’ generation, and why?
Week 9: Homelessness and Social Policy

● Do you think that homelessness is an individual problem, or a social one?

Why?
● What are, in your opinion, the best measures that could be taken to combat
homelessness? Why?

Week 10: Education

● In your opinion, is it discriminatory to separate certain children (with special

educational needs or certain disabilities, for instance) into different groups at
schools? Why or why not? How can it be beneficial/detrimental to the
development of the children?
● Do you believe that the special needs of some children (for instance, those
with a disability or impairment, or highly capable children) should be prioritised
against the needs of ‘average’ students? Why or why not, and, if yes, which
groups’ needs should come first?

Week 11: Social Services

● In your opinion, is social assistance a right or a privilege? Why?

● What qualities do you think a good social worker should have, and why?