The Great Debate: Listening Scripts

Click here to see the full playlist of listening activities from the textbook.

Unit 1

A debate will normally be made up of two teams, a moderator and an audience. We will soon look at how the debates in this textbook will be organised, but it is important to remember that apart from the “Cross Examination” section of a debate, the teams will be allowed to speak uninterrupted.

The debate will begin with a statement for example “Ice cream should be free to everyone.” The two teams will then debate this statement, one team will be Pro (will agree with the statement) and the other team will be Con (will disagree with the statement). The aim of the debate is to make your team’s point of view the most widely accepted.

The Moderator’s job is to make sure all of the rules are kept. They must make sure the teams stick to their time limits, do not interrupt each other and act in a fair way. Moderator’s may also “fact-check” the debaters, to ensure the evidence they put forward is correct.

The audience is expected to listen carefully to the debates, and may be asked to give feedback, ask questions and possibly even vote as to which team they thought had a stronger argument.

Unit 2

The internet is a very powerful tool that can help people from around the world communicate with each other. Information and opinions can be shared instantly, and more and more people are sharing their daily life through blogs, vlogs and social media sites.

But there are some dangers to mass communication; the internet allows for the spreading of misinformation, facts and data that are wrong either because of a mistake or misunderstanding. But the message could be incorrect on purpose and the person posting it wants to spread misinformation to benefit them in some way.

Other dangers include having your personal information stolen, copied or manipulated. On the other hand, if people do not supply this information, it may be hard to hold them accountable if they misbehave on the internet.

Unit 3

The political party who most recently received the most votes will normally be in charge of government, they are known as the ruling party. Although some countries have many political parties, there is normally one “opposition party” who received the second most votes. It is the opposition party’s responsibility to debate with the ruling party, and contest any points they think would harm instead of benefit society.

Sometimes there is no clear winner in an election, and the ruling party and the opposition party may form coalitions, which are when more than one party combine their votes and share their power. No matter who is in power however, they will normally find themselves have to debate every day, with the opposition party, journalists, the public and perhaps even members of their own party.

Debate is central to politics, and allows for ideas to change and hopefully improve, so that more people can have their lives improved. Debate also allows for different view-points to be discussed, not only the ruling majority, but also minority groups, who also have a right to have their voices heard.

Unit 4 – http://paulgraham.com/disagree.html

In an essay written by Paul Graham in 2008 called, How to Disagree, Graham explained there are levels to an argument. The lower levels are very easy to use and common, but not very effective. As you get higher up the pyramid, the levels become much harder, more sophisticated and much more effective.

At the very top of the Pyramid is the level called “Refuting the Central Point.” Graham points out that it is much better to focus on the opponent’s central point, rather than little points that aren’t really connected to the argument, such as correcting someone’s spelling or grammar. If you can stay focused and concentrate on their central point, and effectively refute it, then your argument will seem much stronger.

The other points of the pyramid may show useful tools to use in a debate, or at the very least approaches you should avoid, but concentrating on your opponent’s main point (or one of their main points), will greatly improve your chance of winning your debate. 

Unit 5

Counterplans are a very common tool to be used in a debate, there are many different kinds of counterplan, but in general, it involves knowing your opponents’ argument very well and finding a way to use it against them. That could include finding mistakes in their plan, arguing that they have left out something very important, that the person/agency they have chosen to carry out the plan is not perfect etc.

A counterplan is not for simply disagreeing with another person’s point of view. Instead, it may agree with 95% of what they have said, and focus on the 5% they think is wrong. For example, imagine the government said they will give away free bananas to every household because it will help people eat more healthily, it may help poorer families and it could provide jobs to many people. You may agree with all of these points, but believe apples will be a better choice, as they are easier to transport can be grown domestically and there is a wider variety of apples compared to bananas. You are agreeing with most of the message, but there is a key aspect you disagree with, and that is where you would focus your attention.

It is also important to think about what the potential weaknesses of your argument may be; therefore, you should try and predict what counterplans the opposing team may use against you. By preparing for any potential attacks against your team’s position, you can greatly improve the strength of your argument. So, you do not simply need to find flaws in the opposition’s argument, but your argument as well.

Unit 6

The term “Alternative Justification” sounds extremely complicated, but the idea is very simple. Imagine your life now is known as the “status quo” or in other words, normal. Alternative Justification looks at how changes to this “normal” may bring about a variety of different outcomes.

For example, maybe your university campus does not have a coffee shop. This means the status quo at the school is NOT having a coffee shop. We could then debate about whether or not opening a new coffee shop on campus could be a good idea or a bad idea. We would need to look to the future and make predictions to make our arguments. For example, if we thought having a coffee shop on campus would be a BAD idea, we might say:

“Now, students do not drink too much caffeine. If we opened a coffee shop, their caffeine intake may increase.”

Or maybe you think opening a coffee shop would be a great idea, you might argue:

“Now our debate teacher falls asleep in every class. If he could buy some strong coffee, maybe he would stay awake.”

By using Alternative Justification, we can explore if change is potentially good or bad. Also, we can examine ideas about the status quo, and whether keeping that the same is a good or bad idea. 

Unit 7

Evidence and data can help you win a debate. Opinions are very important and sometimes useful in a debate, but facts are almost always more powerful. For example, imagine you are debating which is the best season of the year. Person One may say: “I love spring, so therefore, I think it is the best season.” This is a perfectly good statement, but it is based on opinion. If the opposition said “I interviewed 50 people, and 78% thought summer is the best season.” Here the argument is supported by some data, in this case, primary research.

But who were these 50 people? What questions were they asked? How old were they? There are many questions we can ask to see if someone’s evidence is actually helpful in a debate. Who wrote/collected the evidence? When? Is it still accurate? Does it support the argument? How? What type of evidence is it? These are all questions that you can not only ask of the opposition’s evidence, but also of the evidence you have collected BEFORE you present it.

Evidence is very powerful, and can go a long way in supporting your position, but if the evidence is old, inaccurate or from a unreliable source, it might actually damage your position, not strengthen it.

Unit 8

There are many aspects to a debate, the opening statement allows you the chance to explain your main points; why are you right? Why is the opposition wrong? It is also a good opportunity to present any evidence you may have collected.

During the rebuttal, you will need to have listened very carefully to the other team, and hopefully you would have found some weaknesses in their argument. During this section, you will need to both defend your position, and attack the opponent’s.

For the cross examination, you will need to think very quickly, and be able to ask questions you think will challenge the other team. Furthermore, you must know your topic extremely well, and be able to answer difficult questions with clarity and confidence.

Lastly, for closing statement, you will have your final chance to reinforce your key points and point out any flaws you may have found in the opponents’ arguments. 

Every aspect of a debate has its own challenges, and assigning the right person to the right job is very important. Know your strengths and weaknesses, discuss with your team where your skills will be best used, and remember to always work as a team.

Unit 9

Put very simply, an argument is a statement or claim that you believe to be true. In a debate, that is true even if you are told to defend a position you may not otherwise believe in. The ultimate goal of your argument is to convince other people that you are right and your opponents are wrong; within a debate these “other people” may be the moderator or audience.

Your argument will start by making a claim, something you believe in or agree with, or something your oppose or do not support. You should then back up your position with evidence, data or examples. This will not only make your stance known, but make it appear very strong and solid.

As we have practiced in past units, you may need to defend your position against counter-plans, rebuttals and cross examinations. It is therefore very important you know the opponents’ topic as well as your own, so that you can predict what they might ask.

If you are able to improve your skills in both creating and defending your positions, you will be able to approach any debate with more confidence.

Unit 10

One of the most difficult aspects of a debate is compromise. This involves both parties changing their stand-point or opinion so that everyone involved is happy with the final decision. A compromise is made after both sides put forward their initial plan and negotiate with each other. 

Imagine a salesperson and a customer. The customer does not want to spend much money, but the salesperson aims to make as big a profit as possible. As time passes and they negotiate, they may come to a compromise, which in this case is a price they are both comfortable with (see the chart in the textbook for more details).

There are many different approaches to help you in a negotiation, but in this unit we will look at two of the most common, Door-in-Face and Foot-in-Door.

Unit 11

When putting together a plan for major projects, the two most important factors are often time and money. It is very important that when planning these projects we create a schedule, to make sure everything is finished on time, as well as a budget to make sure the costs are kept under control.

With a schedule, we must keep in mind that some tasks cannot start until the steps before them are completed. For example, we can’t paint the walls of a house before the walls have been built.

Budgets are equally as important and you must account for hidden costs, or expenses you hadn’t expected, such as bad weather or accidents.

In a debate, having a solid schedule and budget, that is honest and accurate, can make you plan much more impressive. In the opposition’s documents, look for potential mistakes, maybe by comparing their schedule to a similar project that has faced difficulties. Are their expenses realistic? If you can argue they have made their budget too tight, you will have a strong chance of damaging their argument.

Unit 13

In past units we have explored the importance of finding accurate and reliable evidence. But how about creating your own evidence that is targeted specifically to your topic? This can be useful in a number of ways; you can craft questions so that they answer the EXACT point you want them to; which can be much better than trying to manipulate evidence so that it suits your argument.

There are a number of methods you can use to collect evidence, including polls, interviews, and surveys. But no matter which path you decide to follow, there are some key points you must keep in mind. Firstly, how did you collect the evidence? Was it online, or in person? Did you use any paperwork. Secondly, who did you ask? Try to collect vital information like people’s age, gender, nationality or any other aspects that may be tied to your argument. Lastly, how big was your study? Did you ask 100 people or 10? All of these details should be written out very clearly and ready to show to the moderator if requested.

In collecting your own evidence, you have the opportunity to answer questions which are tied to your argument. You can target relevant demographics, or choose to ask a wide variety of people. But remember, the evidence must be represented honestly, if the results aren’t what you hoped for, don’t change them to fit your purpose, as this could be disastrous for your team.

Unit 14

One of the best forms of evidence you can use in a debate is called Expert Testimony, this simply means a quote from a person who is an expert in the field or area you are debating. It could be from an author, journalist or a professor, but (so long as they are good at their job), they should have done some in-depth research into the subject, which you can use in your argument.

Using Expert Testimony has many advantages, firstly, having your claim supported by an expert will make it seem much stronger and convincing. Secondly, the original author would have already done a great deal of research to create their paper or article, which saves you a great deal of time, as you can quote their findings without having to conduct the research yourself; it is like buying a cake from a bakery, instead of making it from scratch yourself, the final outcome is similar, but you need to put in far less work. Lastly, it can better help you understand the topic, even if you only use a small portion of their research as a quote, by reading more about your debate topic, you will get much more knowledge, which may help you answer questions, or defend against counter-plans.

As with all evidence, you must make sure that your Expert Testimony is reliable, so be sure to check who wrote it, when and where was it published, and is there any reason to believe it is bias or inaccurate. This is very important as while a good testimony can greatly strengthen your argument, a bad one can ruin it.

Unit 15:

 A brief is an overview of what you will be speaking about during your debate. It will include all of the cards and evidence you have collected and organized, as well as any scripts, notes or slideshows you will be using. It may also include details regarding any other materials you may be using, such as audio, photographs or videos.

The type of brief used in this textbook differs slightly from those often used in debate, in that it is designed for ESL and EFL students, or to those that are new to debate. With that in mind, the purpose of the brief is to help organise your debate, so that EVERYONE on your team has access to ALL of the information that has been collected. Furthermore, it will help you assign roles much more easily, and will show very clearly that the burden of work is split equally between all members of the team.

A brief can also be shared with the opposition team and the moderator, if any of your comments or evidence needs to be confirmed, as it makes it very easy for every aspect of your debate to be found, studied and, hopefully, shown to be correct.

Budgets and schedules:

When putting together a plan for most major projects, the two most important factors are often time and money. It is very important that when planning these projects we create a schedule, to make sure everything is finished on time, as well as a budget, to make sure the costs are kept under control.

With a scheduled, we must keep in mind that some tasks cannot start until the steps before them are completed. For example, we can’t paint the walls of a house before the walls have been built.

Budgets are equally as important and you must account for hidden costs, or expenses you hadn’t expected, such as bad weather or accidents.

In a debate, having a solid schedule and budget, that is honest and accurate, can make you plan much more impressive. In the opposition’s documents, look for potential mistakes, maybe by comparing their schedule to a similar project that has faced difficulties. Are their expenses realistic? If you can argue they have made their budget too tight, you will have a strong chance of damaging their argument.

Unit 16

A Primary Debate often takes place when more than one person is hoping to gain a particular position, most commonly the head of a political party. Alternatively, they may be battling for the opportunity to run for a powerful office, such as mayor or even president.

A Primary will often see the participants stand on stage facing both the audience and the moderators. They will have the opportunity to clearly state their position, with sections similar to an opening and closing statement. But the majority of the process will be concerned with answering questions, from the moderators, the audience and perhaps even the other participants.

This means that for this type of debate, you will have two main areas you need to focus on, both of which will require a great deal of research. Firstly, you will need to know your opponents’ topic extremely well. Research their position, and think of questions that will challenge them. Secondly, you must have a very clear image of what you will be speaking about; furthermore, you must be prepared for some very difficult questions. Think about what you may be asked, and what your answers may be. The more you prepare for this project, the more confident and clear your answers will seem.