Debating EAP Worksheets, Activities & Games

EAP Debating Activity - Speaking: Debating, Guided Discussion, Self-reflection, Communicative Practice - Group Work In this insightful debating activity, students rotate through three short debates on the same topic, taking turns to argue 'for', argue 'against', and moderate, reusing and improving good ideas as the activity progresses. For the first round, Student A argues 'for', Student B argues 'against', and Student C is the moderator. The moderator gives Student A and B one minute to plan their arguments using the debater cards. The debaters then present arguments for 30 seconds each, followed by 30-second responses to each other. The moderator oversees the debate, timing each segment and instructing debaters when to start and stop speaking. After each debate, students form new groups of three and switch roles so that across the three rounds each student completes all three roles. After the third debate, students return to their original groups to answer reflection questions individually and then discuss what they did well and what they could improve. show less

EAP Debating Game - Speaking: Debating, Communicative Practice - Group Work In this engaging debating game, students compete to win a series of mini-debates by using strategy cards to build and respond to academic arguments. To begin, the moderator draws a topic card, reads it aloud, and assigns one student to argue 'for' and the other to argue 'against' the proposition on the card. Each debater then picks up two strategy cards. Debaters must use both cards during the round to win. The two debaters begin by giving short opening statements, and then debate the topic using their strategy cards to build arguments and respond to their opponent, giving a final summary of their main argument at the end. Debaters then reveal their strategy cards and explain briefly how they used each one during the debate, with the moderator awarding the topic card to the debater who used their strategies most effectively. Students repeat this process several times using different topics and rotating roles. The student with the most topic cards after six rounds wins the game. show less

EAP Debate Rebuttals Worksheet - Reading and Writing Exercises: Writing Paragraphs - Speaking Activity: Presenting Rebuttals, Freer Practice - Group Work In this comprehensive debate rebuttals worksheet, students practice formulating and presenting rebuttals. First, students read a brief introduction to debate rebuttals and match key terms to their correct definitions. Next, students are introduced to the basic structure of a debate rebuttal and are provided with a complete example of a rebuttal that responds to a 'hasty generalisation' fallacy. Students then read about two other approaches to creating a rebuttal based on the fallacies of 'red herring' and 'bandwagon'. After that, students write a rebuttal to two counter-arguments following the structure in the example in which they identify the logical fallacy made in the counter-argument. Students then do online research to help them gather support for their arguments. These should include elements of logic, real-world examples, statistics, and quotes from experts or respected publications or institutions. Next, students take it in turns to present their rebuttals. Finally, the class decides which rebuttal was the most persuasive and why. show less

EAP Debating Activity - Vocabulary Exercises: Categorising, Gap-fill - Speaking Activity: Debating, Freer and Communicative Practice - Pair Work In this interesting debating skills activity, students practice phrases for expressing opinions, agreeing and disagreeing and then participate in a series of mini debates to practice the language. First, students write each phrase in a table under its correct function, expressing an opinion, agreeing, or disagreeing. Students then read a debate dialogue and complete each sentence with a suitable phrase. Next, in pairs, students debate a topic with one student agreeing with the topic statement and the other disagreeing. Students repeat this process several times using a different debate topic each time and swapping roles as they go to practice all the language. show less

EAP Structuring Arguments Worksheet - Reading and Writing Exercises: Matching, Writing Paragraphs, Revising - Speaking Activity: Presenting an Argument - Pair Work In this useful structuring an argument worksheet, students learn, practice and present argument outlines and explanations. First, students match key terms from the worksheet with their correct definitions. Next, students read through an explanation and example of an argument outline. In pairs, students then select a resolution and create a brief introduction to their argument using the example argument as a guide. After that, students read through an overview and example of an argument explanation. As with the argument outline, students create their own detailed explanation of their argument following the model provided in the example. Students then use a checklist to review and revise their argument. Finally, students present their argument to other pairs in turn. Each time students present their argument, one student presents the outline of the argument and the other presents the explanation, alternating roles each time. After both arguments have been presented, the pairs decide who presented the most convincing argument and why. show less

EAP Counter-Arguments Activity - Reading, Writing and Speaking: Matching, Writing Sentences, Delivering Counter Arguments, Freer Practice - Pair Work In this productive counter-arguments speaking activity, students practice using partial agreement to counter arguments. First, students match statements with counter-arguments. Next, in pairs, students write four opinion statements on topics that people might disagree with. Students then consider the other side of the issue and write counter-arguments to their opinions. After that, students work individually to write four more opinion statements for their partner to counter. Finally, students take it in turns to read their statements to their partner, who gives a counter-argument using the phrases from the worksheet. show less

EAP Logical Fallacies Worksheet - Reading and Writing Exercises: Matching, Categorising, Writing Sentences - Speaking Activity: Identifying - Group Work In this free logical fallacies worksheet, students become familiar with 12 common informal logical fallacies and practice identifying them. To begin, students read a short text about debating and logical fallacies and then match key terms from the text to their correct definitions. Next, students read explanations of 12 common logical fallacies and match them to examples. After that, students choose three of the logical fallacies from the list of 12 and create their own examples of each. Finally, in small groups, students take turns sharing one of their examples and the other students try to correctly identify the logical fallacy. show less

EAP Academic Debates Worksheet - Reading Exercises: Short Answer Questions, Multiple-Choice, True, False or Not Given Questions Here is a useful academic debates worksheet that introduces students to the way academic debates are conducted. First, students read the Affirmative team's opening statement addressing the motion, 'Artificial Intelligence poses an existential threat to humanity' and answer questions about it. Next, students read the Negative team's opening statement and answer three multiple-choice questions. Students then read the Affirmative team's rebuttal to the Negative team's opening statement and answer questions with either true, false or not given. Finally, students read the Negative team's rebuttal and decide which of three summaries provided is the best. show less