Job Discussion Forums

[Volver]

I am supposed to teach public speaking to some very low-level and unmotivated 8th and 9th graders. I already teach this to 12th graders and it is challenging to put it mildly. They will need it next year and have a reason to learn. The little kids have zero reason to learn this skill, but I thought debate might be more interesting/fun for them. Problem is that I have never taught this before and really have no idea where to start.

Has anyone out there taught debate to kids 13 to 15 years old? What, if any, materials were you able to buy or did you have to create your own curriculum? Did you already have experience with debating or did you have to learn how to do/teach it? Suggestions of any type are welcome.

I have to add that the real reason what passes for "management" here wants me to teach this class is to make them behave. These are the worst behaved brats at this school and I am pretty good a class control. This got dumped on me and now I need to make it somehow work. I figured low-level debate would be a lot more interesting for them instead of public speaking.

Thanks.

V

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

I taught argumentation to university-aged students off and on a few years back. The school should be able to supply books for this. I don't remember the name of the book, but if you are familiar with deductive logic and social issues to discuss, creating your own curriculum isn't difficult.

I don't think that it'll work for misbehaving middle schoolers. They'll have to examine issues from both sides and they'll need to be aware of several deductive fallacies to avoid when presenting their argument. This could be be difficult for them to grasp.

If they chronically misbehave, teams will be impossible. You'll need to manage the teams as well as unruly spectator class members.

But you could give it a shot. You could present innocuous subjects for the class to discuss such as "Should tofu be made the national food?" then ask each member of the class to go to the board to write his opinion and explanation. Then, the class could participate in discussing the topic.

That's a start.

As a public speaking class, you could assign single students one topic to examine and present in front of the class arguments for and against the given topic.

While the student is presenting his argument, the students can be engaged by requiring them to write criticism (in English) of the student's presentation. At the end of the presentation, the students pass their comments to the presenter.

[Non Sequitur]

One abortive attempt in an elective conversation class. Students couldn't get their heads around arguing a case that they didn't personally belive in.
Went back to suggesting a topic and letting them speak. Neutral stuff like 'The wearing of seatbelts should be made compulsory'

[Curtinca]

Tried it with post-grad students, with mild success. For curriculum, I made a summary of Roberts Rules of Order, and also did a lesson logical fallacies, including a topic on ad hominem argument. Followed procedures of Canadian/British parliament, with emphasis on the notion that it's OK to be "the loyal opposition" -- rather a novel idea for China.

Wouldn't recommend this for high-schoolers.

[Non Sequitur]

I await news of your deportation!

[teenoso]

You could teach this kind of course using the IELTS speaking part 3 type questions (or topics in writing task 2) - there's lots of material available on IELTS prep sites like ielts-simon.com, and the questions are designed to be up-to-date, culturally sensitive and uncontroversial in a directly political or religious sense.

A class could be structured so the kids think about and make notes about the problem from both sides, ask questions and respond in pairs, then share in a small group , then with the whole class, with you giving input and feedback at each stage.
The big problem is many students (I have only taught at uni level) don't have an opinion on, or any real knowledge of, some of the topics, and this would be even more obvious with middle school students. You might start each class with a 'brainstorm' on the topic , or a written prompt , so at least there are some ideas in play.

But I have found that some students get really engaged and enthusiastic when arguing with classmates, and it was clear that a few had had debating experience , probably at high school.

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

[Volver]

Wow. Good ideas from all. I agree that one of the biggest stumbling blocks will be getting the students to have any kind of original idea or even any idea at all. Having to rethink the entire class due to the poor quality and immaturity of the students.

V

[Non Sequitur]

I find with low-performing or simply discouraged students you may need to give them texts to read aloud as a dialogue first. Make it an arguement or disagreement and put in some basic broad humour. Boys seem to like this especially if the speech contains mild insults - 'my room mates are idiots' etc.
It's a bit of an effort to wean them off written texts but it can be done.
If these are freshmen their entire Gao Kao year(s) will have had no oral English.
Best
NS

[wildgrace]

Some books you might want to check out :
https://www.amazon.com/Debates-English-Learners-Teachers-Activities-ebook/dp/B00WPZ42AC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1513692295&sr=1-1&keywords=Esl+debate
https://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-Point-Students-Downloadable-ebook/dp/B00KV1SL04/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1513692295&sr=1-2&keywords=Esl+debate
https://www.amazon.com/Great-Debates-Important-Questions-Teachers-ebook/dp/B008C7KOS6/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1513692295&sr=1-3&keywords=Esl+debate

[Volver]

Alright. You have convinced me and I give up. I think I will try another approach with these little monsters and see if I can work some form of debate into the curriculum.

Thanks for everyone's input.

V