Lesson video

Hello everyone.

It's Mr. Brown here with your English lesson, and today we are going to be learning the different roles in a debate.

And then on top of that we'll also be looking at making something called rebuttal.

So lots to do.

Let's get started.

And the outcome for today's lesson is, I can understand the roles in a debate and make a rebuttal point.

I can understand the roles in a debate and make a rebuttal point.

Here are your key words for the lesson, motion, proposition, opposition, rebuttal.

Let's go through those one more time.

And this time you repeat after me.

Motion.

Proposition.

Opposition.

Rebuttal.

Let's take a look at the definitions for our keywords today.

The motion is the name for the belief or proposal that is being debated.

Now, the team that agrees with the motion, they are called the proposition.

The team that disagrees with the motion is called the opposition.

A rebuttal point is a counter argument made against something specific that the opposing team has said.

You'll be encountering all of these words in today's lesson.

Okay, so the lesson outline for our lesson, which is learning the roles in a debate and making rebuttal.

We are going to first look at the roles in a debate, then we'll move our learning on to making a rebuttal point.

But let's start with the roles in a debate.

Every debate needs a topic that will be debated.

Now this is called the motion.

My turn, your turn.

Motion.

A motion will take the form of a belief or a proposal.

It will be something that the house believes or proposes.

The motion will always start with "this house," and this comes from the houses of Parliament.

"This house would," and then you'll say something that the house would plan to do, or, "This house believes." This house believes something.

What does every motion start with in a debate? Is it A, this school, B, this house, or C, this building? Take five seconds, think about your answer, and make your decision now.

Okay, well done to everybody who said, B, this house.

Every motion in a debate starts with "this house believes" or "this house would".

Every motion is a belief or a proposal from the house.

A belief is something that the house believes to be true.

It could also be considered to be the house's opinion.

For example, this house believes that dogs are better than cats.

This house believes that homework should be banned.

Or ,this house believes that English is the best subject in school.

These are all beliefs that the house has, but you could also consider them to be the house's opinions.

The proposition, well, they're the team who agrees with these beliefs.

They support these opinions.

A proposal? Now that is when the house suggests an idea.

It is something that the house thinks should happen.

For example, this house would ban mobile phones for children under 13.

This isn't something that is currently in place.

The house is proposing it's to happen.

This house would make public transport free for everyone.

Or, this house would allow children to decide the lunch menu at school.

And let's check our understanding.

Which two of these could be motions in a debate? A, this house believes that pasta is the best food.

B, this house doesn't like broccoli.

C, this house is a fan of ice cream.

Or D, this house would give every child a superpower.

Pause the video and decide which two of these could be motions in a debate.

And welcome back.

Congratulations if you said A and D.

These are beliefs and proposals that would work as motions in a debate.

There are two teams in a debate.

One of the teams agrees with the motion and the other team, well, they disagree.

The team that agrees with the motion is called the proposition.

My turn, your turn, proposition.

Now the team that disagrees with the motion, well they are called the opposition.

My turn, your turn.

Opposition.

Let's check your understanding.

Match the teams to the correct description.

You've got proposition and opposition, and then two descriptions.

One of them is the team that disagrees with the motion.

One of them is the team that agrees with the motion.

Can you please match the team to the correct description? Pause the video now.

Welcome back.

Congratulations if you said the proposition are the team that agrees with the motion, which means, of course, the opposition are the team that disagrees with the motion.

There are many different roles in the debate and not all of them involve being part of the proposition or the opposition.

Within each team there are speakers and their job is to make the speeches.

A summary speaker, who summarises all of the speaker's speeches so they won't make any new points, but they will summarise everything that's been said by their team before.

Floor speakers who help the speakers to prepare for the debate and can speak during the floor debate section.

So this is an excellent role if you are not quite sure if you want to make your own speech, perhaps you need to develop your confidence, but you want to be involved in the debate, supporting the speakers to write their speech, and then being involved in the floor debate section where there is no pressure to speak, it's only if you want to.

Which role has the task of summarising the team's speeches in a debate? Is it A, the speakers B, the summary speaker or C, the floor speakers? Who has the role of summarising their team's speech in a debate A, B, or C? Pause the video now.

Well done to everybody who said B, the summary speaker has the job of summarising their team's speeches in a debate.

A debate will also have a chairperson.

Now they have a very important job.

They would be the person who will direct and keep order in the debate.

Make sure everyone knows who's going next, ensure that the debate doesn't get out of hand, perhaps become a bit too argumentative.

The chairperson would also introduce the motion and speak directly to the audience.

A timekeeper.

Now they will monitor the time of each speech.

It wouldn't be fair in a debate if one person had five minutes to make their speech and another person had one minute.

So the timekeeper ensures that it is fair and everybody gets the same amount of time.

Now there are judges.

Now the judges will score the debate and they will decide the winning team.

So a very important job.

And of course an audience.

Now the audience are not there just to watch.

They are part of the debate.

They watch the debate, but they also ask questions in the floor debate section.

And they may vote for a winning team.

So you could have judges decide the winners, but you could also have the audience vote for their favourite team, the team they think has performed the best.

Which role has the task of directing and keeping order in a debate? A, timekeeper, B, judges or C, the chairperson? Pause the video and decide now.

Well done and welcome back.

Congratulations if you said C, it is the chairperson who has the task of directing and keeping order in a debate.

It's time for your practise task.

I would like you to write down all the different roles involved in a debate.

How many of the roles can you remember? Write down all the different roles involved in a debate.

Pause the video and have a go now.

Okay, welcome back.

I wonder how easy or difficult you found this.

Let's have a look and see if you were right.

So we have the summary speaker, the floor speaker, the audience, judges, time keeper, chairperson, and of course the speakers themselves.

Well done if you manage to get over half of those because that's really impressive, as we've only just learned them.

Summary speaker, speakers, they make up the team.

You have floor speakers who will support them.

You've got a chairperson who keeps order.

Timekeeper, makes sure that everybody has the same amount of time.

And then judges who can decide a winner.

And of course the audience who might also vote for a winner and they will be watching and asking questions too.

And it's time to move on to our next learning cycle.

So let's look at making a rebuttal point.

A rebuttal point is a counter argument made against something specific that the opposing team has said.

A speaker can make a rebuttal point at the very beginning of their speech, before they've said their own point.

Now it should only be 15 to 20 seconds long.

And this is because the speaker wouldn't want to use up too much of their own time on rebuttal.

A speaker will have a set amount of time and the rebuttal point is just addressing what someone else has said.

So you want to make that short, clear, 15 to 20 seconds long and then you'll move on to your own point.

Now a rebuttal works very well when phrased as a question.

This is because the opposing team cannot answer that question as it is not their turn to speak.

When you are making rebuttal, the opposing team can't do a single thing.

They can't respond, they can't argue back, nothing.

It is not their turn.

That's why rebuttal can be so effective.

If you phrase it as a question, they can't respond and not answering a question in a debate shows weakness.

It makes you look good and them not so much.

"Have you not considered," might be a way you'd want to start, or, "Do you not think.

?" Because they may have considered these things, they may have thought about them, but they can't say that they can't tell you because it's not their turn to speak.

Let's check our understanding.

Where would a speaker make a rebuttal point? A, at the start of their speech, B, in the middle of their speech or C, at the end of their speech? Pause the video and decide.

Okay, well done.

Of course it's at the start of their speech, right at the beginning before they start making their own points.

That's when you can make rebuttal.

Speakers should ensure they are always listening carefully to the opposing team.

If it's not your turn to speak, you should be listening to every word the opposing team is saying.

Now this is to listen up for opportunities to make rebuttal against them.

You've got to listen very carefully to hear something that you can latch onto and make rebuttal.

For example, a speaker for the proposition would be listening for anything that an opposition speaker says that might be suitable to make a counter argument against them.

Let's look at an example of a rebuttal.

Here's the motion.

This house would ban school uniform.

An opposition speaker disagrees with the motion, of course, that's what opposition speakers do, and they make the following point and explanation.

And I'm going to read that to you now.

Here's the point, "I disagree with the motion "because having a school uniform would save parents money.

"Raising children is very expensive.

"If there were no uniform, children may want "to wear different clothes each day.

"However, with a uniform, "parents would just need one set.

"Only having to buy one set of clothes "would save parents so much money." Now you can see I've put the words only having to buy one set of clothes in a different colour.

That is what I think you can latch onto and make rebuttal against.

If you heard that as a proposition speaker, your ears should prick up and you should be excited because this is an opportunity.

The speaker has said, "You only need to buy one set of clothes." So having a school uniform is good.

It's gonna save parents money.

Makes sense.

But this is how I would rebuttal that point.

"Good afternoon, my name is Mr. Brown "and before I start my argument, I have some rebuttal "for the last speaker of the opposition." So I'll introduce myself and I'll let them know, let the audience know, that I'm making rebuttal now.

I'm not starting my speech yet.

First thing I'm going to do is remind them what that other speaker said.

"You said that if schools had a uniform, "parents would only have to buy one set of clothes.

"However, have you not considered "that children may get their uniform dirty "during the school day "and that parents would not be able to wash them in time "for the next school day?" Can the person respond? Absolutely not.

That's my rebuttal.

I'm gonna read it one more time.

Focus on how I keep it short to the point and I phrase it as a question, knowing that the opposing speaker cannot answer back.

"Good afternoon everyone, my name is Mr. Brown "and before I start my argument, I have some rebuttal "for the last speaker of the opposition.

"You said that if schools had a uniform, "parents would only have to buy one set of clothes.

"However, have you not considered "that children may get their uniform dirty "during the school day and the parents would not be able "to wash them in time for school the next day?" And now on with my point.

And that's where I would move my speech to.

This would count as my rebuttal.

Let's check our understanding.

Why should speakers ensure they're always listening carefully to the opposing team? A, to listen out for opportunities to make a rebuttal point against them.

B, to ensure they can remember every single word that has been said.

C, to help prepare for their own speech.

Pause the video and decide now.

Okay, welcome back.

I hope everybody said A, of course, yes.

You are listening out for opportunities to make a rebuttal against that opposing team.

Listening.

Listening.

Listening.

So important.

Okay, time to practise.

I want you to make a rebuttal point against this argument.

The motion is, this house would ban mobile phones for children under the age of 13.

An opposition speaker is speaking and their point is, I disagree with the motion because mobile phones can be an excellent resource for children to use to help them with their homework.

Here's their explanation.

Lots of children have parents who work during the day and may not have time to help them with their homework.

Using a mobile phone could be a great way to access the internet, which could help answer any questions the children may have.

Okay, I want you to read through again and hunt down anything you can use as an opportunity to make a rebuttal against.

This person has raised a good point that mobile phones could be a good resource to help children with their homework.

And they've explained it well.

They've said, well, parents might be working and so a mobile phone could be a great way to access the internet, which could help answer any questions that the child may have.

How can you use that argument and turn it around against that speaker? Take your time.

Have a good think.

And I would like you to write your own rebuttal against this argument.

Pause the video now.

Okay, welcome back.

Let's see how you got on.

So we had a really good opposition speaker's point and an explanation.

They were talking all about how mobile phones can be a great thing for homework.

So what you should be thinking is, okay, well how can I turn that 'round and make mobile phones not so good for homework? How can mobile phones be a bad thing for homework? Here is an example of rebuttal that you might have made.

"You said that children can use mobile phones "to help them with their homework.

"However, what if children use them to cheat "and don't actually complete their homework themselves?" And that will be it.

A really clear rebuttal that we know the opposing speaker cannot argue with, they cannot respond to.

Really clever.

They are saying how mobile phones are great to help with homework.

So we have said how mobile phones would just allow the children to cheat and then they're not gonna do the homework at all.

Let's summarise our learning today.

The motion is the name for the belief or proposal that is being debated.

The team that agrees with the motion, they are called the proposition and the team who disagree, they are called the opposition.

And a rebuttal point.

Well, that is a counter argument made against something specific that the opposing team has set.

Well done today, excellent work and I'll see you again soon.