Learning task 2: Rebuttal
Skills:
- Rebutting and argument.
- Use of legitimate rhetorical debating techniques (see this ARB resource
).
- Identifying logical and illogical statements (see this ARB resource
).
Assessment:
Group work: not assessed.
Class presentation: formative peer assessment.
Notes:
This gives students the opportunity to practise the art of rebuttal in small groups. It requires careful control as it could become noisy.
Prior Awareness and Preparation
Impromptu Speaking should be completed first.
Teacher advises students that the assessment is formative only and will not be recorded.
Students have discussed, listed and seen the use of rhetorical techniques, ie. any language technique used to communicate or persuade.
Preparation
Prepare a list of moots
.
Divide class into groups. Each group consists of two teams of two or three students each, with a leader for each team.
Each group is given two random moots.
Preparation
The teams in each group toss for Affirmative or Negative for the first moot, then take up opposite sides for the second.
Teams prepare brief statements in support of their case. These are for one-minute speeches, so they do not need to be carefully prepared for presentation. The focus is on the arguments - each speaker should present one or two arguments.
Presenting the case
Groups continue to work separately at their tables.
The Affirmative for the first moot present their arguments one after another while the Negative take notes.
Once the whole Affirmative side has finished, the negative has one minute in which to discuss its opposing arguments and divide them up. This list of Fallacious Arguments
will be helpful here.
Each negative speaker has one minute in which to attempt to rebut all the arguments presented by each Affirmative speaker.
This process is repeated in reverse for the second moot.
Informal Assessment
After each sequence of presentation and rebuttal, the leader of the Affirmative chairs a brief discussion of the quality of rebuttal. It is important to focus on whether the arguments were reasonable and logical - not whether everyone agrees with them. See these ARB resources:
After everyone has had a chance to practise rebuttal, the teacher asks for examples of good argument and rebuttal.
The teacher can display these on the board or OHP, and show the relationship between a point and its rebuttal; and call for discussion on how effective the arguments are.
At the initial stage the teacher should accept good argument regardless of the language in which is it expressed. Any writing on the OHP or board should be in standard English.
Once most students show the ability to produce a rebuttal, work can start on expressing arguments and responses in standard English which shows the logic of the argument.
See this Assessment Resource Banks item for a test on debating techniques and protocol
.
Writing
A writing exercise is useful for developing the language of debating
. It can be set for homework.
- Task: Students are to write any of the arguments they heard or used, and a rebuttal for each of the arguments.
- Model: Issue the model argument / rebuttal sheet on which students can base their writing.
- Language: present the connecting words below and insist that one or more of them must be used in each rebuttal.
