Pur posi ve

Communication

GEC 005
The Debate
The Debate
 The Debate
Types of Debate
You may not be aware but you
may have already engaged in
a debate.
You hear people argue in
different domains – home,
school, office, market, church,
and the government.
Usually, this involves the
exchange of opposing ideas
or arguments.
The Debate
 The Debate
Types of Debate
❖ Formal Debates
These are held in formal
settings, like the ones we have
in school, or the ones we
witness live or via taped
coverage from the House of
Representatives of the Senate.
 The Debate
Types of Debate
❖ Formal Debates
Debaters come prepared, with the
knowledge they need to reason
out effectively.
A topic is debated and the
debaters listen to the arguments
raised by the other debaters from
which they build their arguments
and their position.
 The Debate
Types of Debate
❖ Informal Debates
These kinds of debates do not
follow a strict structure.
There are also two sides which
are the affirmative and negative
that take place anywhere and do
not have to involve two teams.
 The Debate
Types of Debate
❖ Informal Debates
It may take place between
two or more people, arguing
for or against a certain issue.
An example would be two
friends, deciding where to eat
their lunch for the day.
The Debate Skills Needed in Debate
➢ Need the language macro-
skills to be an effective
debater
➢The productive and
receptive skills work together
and are not independent of
each other.
➢These skills should go with
critical thinking because
listening, speaking, reading,
writing, and viewing can only
be successful if practiced
with these skills.
 The Debate
Skills Needed in Debate
✓Reading
When you read extensively,
you can look at things
differently and your knowledge
of things is not confined to a
single perspective.
The Debate Skills Needed in Debate
✓Reading
Sir Francis Bacon once said
“Reading maketh a full man,
writing an exact man.”

What does this mean and from

what angle or perspective can
you explain this quote?
The Debate
 The Debate
Skills Needed in Debate
✓Speaking
This always note that you should
articulate your thoughts clearly,
pronounce the words you utter
well, use appropriate rate and
volume, speak with grammatical
correctness, maintain the correct
poise and use nonverbal codes
such as expression, gestures and
movement.
 The Debate
Skills Needed in Debate
✓Writing
It is in this skill that the
“making of a full man” is
achieved. Reading and
writing are skills that go
together.
 The Debate
Skills Needed in Debate
✓Writing
You can express your full
understanding of yourself
in writing as well as the
world you are in, your
views in life, and your
perspectives of people.
The Debate
 The Debate
Skills Needed in Debate
✓Listening
Jimmy Hendrix once said,
“Knowledge speaks but
wisdom listens.”
It is only through this skill
that intently able to gain
knowledge, and wisdom and
to show respect to others
 The Debate
Ethical Considerations
Freely & Steinberg (2014), in their
book Argumentation and Debate:
Critical Thinking for Reasoned
Decision Making, define ethics as a
set of constructs that guide our
decision-making by providing
standards of behaviour telling us
how we ought to act”.
The Debate
The Debate
 The Debate
Ethical Considerations
Debate questions issues of
right and wrong, including
the applications of
standards of ethics.
Remember that people have
differing ethical assumptions
about this world and ways of
viewing things.
 The Debate
Dress and
Appearance
You should be mindful of
how you look in a formal
debate because
appearance is as
important as
paralinguistic cues and
nonverbal behavior.
 The Debate
Dress and Appearance
For Female’s Outfit:
✓Wear a business attire
✓Do not wear colors that are
ostentatiously attractive
✓Wear heels that are manageable like
1 ½ to 2 inches
✓Wear make-up and jewelry
conservatively
The Debate
 Synthesis
❖ Debates are used not only in formal contexts but also in informal
settings, such as the home, market, mall, church, and the like.
❖ Debates can be classified into informal and formal. Whereas
informal debates happen anywhere, formal debates take place in
formal settings, such as the classroom, the House of
Representatives, and the Senate. Informal debates simply call
for an exchange of arguments without any structure or rules to
follow. Conversely, formal debates follow a procedure, have a
structure, and observe a set of rules.
❖ Debates use all the language macro-skills: listening, speaking,
reading, writing, viewing, and critical thinking. Without one of
these, a debater cannot argue effectively.
Pur posi ve
Communication

GEC
GEC 005
005