《英语辩论理论与实践》课程教学大纲
【课程英文名称】:English Debate
【课程类型】专业选修课
【授课语言】英语
【适用专业】英语专业(或相关专业)
【开课学期】第四学期
【先修课程】《英语公共演讲》课程
【总学时数】36
【总学分数】2
【教研室】
【执笔人】顾秋蓓
【审核人】
【编写(修订)日期】:2024/6/26
一、课程简介与教学目标:
1. Content: This course is to broaden students’ knowledge in a variety of issues including classic controversial topics and hotly debated current issues; to encourage them to think critically about these issues through analytical reading, through discussions and debates.
2. Competence: This course is to enhance students’ analytical thinking skills by asking them to integrate theoretical model with specific debate motions through various learning activities like discussion and argument writing; to improve students’ questioning skills in a disciplined way, which will help them explore complex ideas and get to the truth of things; to further develop public communication skills through speeches and BP debate.
3. Skill: This course is to further improve students’ English proficiency in general: e.g. to enlarge their vocabulary on a wide rage of issues; to enhance accuracy, fluency and interactive skills within certain contexts.
二、先修课的要求
本课程的先修课程是《英语公共演讲》。
三、教学环节、内容及学时分配
Course Arrangements for English Debating
Section One: Introduction(Week 1)* | ||
Objectives: 1. Inform students of course arrangements (objectives, requirements, grading, general time-line); 2. Introduce the BP format to students. | In-class activities: 1. A BP demonstration by debaters from Fudan English Debating Society; 2. Group discussion: Which position in BP would you prefer, and why? | Assignments: 1. Read Chapter 1,2,3 of Gary Rybold’s textbook; 2. Group presentation for next class: rhetorical fallacies. |
Section Two: Critical Thinking in Debate (Week 2)* | ||
Objectives: 1. Introduce to students the Paul-elder Model (PEM); 2. Introduce to students the Toulmin Model; 3. Introduce to students intellectual standards of thinking. | In-class activities: 1. Before class: Group 1 presentation on rhetorical fallacies; 2. Practice of argumentative speech following one of the models. | Assignments: 1. Read an article in China Daily opinion pages. Use the elements of thinking to analyze what the author is writing, and then evaluate it using the intellectual standards of thinking. The evaluative essay should be at least 500 words long. Hand in the printed copy (both articles) at next class. |
Section Three: Listening and Flowing (Week 3)* | ||
Objectives: 1. Make students understand the bellow terms: a. “burden of refutation” b. “silence is admission” 2. Introduce to students how to note down a speech; 3. Introduce to students the format of BP note-taking. | In-class activities: 1. Before class: Group 2 presentation on rhetorical fallacies; 2. Flow a speech (a five-minute speech in a speech contest 3. ) then present it in one’s own words; 3. Flow a debate speech (PM speech of 2016 WUDC Final) then present in one’s own words. | Assignments: 1. Flow a lecture (any lecture on campus in English) and note down the key points. Write up the key points and bring a printed copy to class; 2. Read Chapter 7 p76-78; 3. Read Chapter 7 p82-86; 4. Read Chapter 9 p.97-106. |
Section Four: Propositional Case Development for Policy Motions (W4)* | ||
Objectives: 1. Understanding the following terms: a. “fiat” b. “presumption” 2. Understanding the stock issues of policy motions; 3. Getting to know the structure of the case. | In-class activities: 1. Before class: Group 3 presentation on rhetorical fallacies; 2. Practice a PM speech; 3. Practice a DPM speech. | Assignments: 1. Read Chapter 10 p110-118. |
Section Five: Oppositional Counter-case Development for Policy Motions (W5)* | ||
Objectives: 1. Introduce to students counter-case strategies for policy motions, which include: a. disadvantages b. feasibility c. case turn d. counter-plan e. mutual exclusivity f. net benefit | In-class activities: 1. Before class: Group 4 presentation on rhetorical fallacies; 2. Practice an LO speech; 3. Practice a DLO speech.
| Assignments: 1. Read Chapter 7 p80-82; 2. Read Chapter 9 p106-109.
|
Section Six: Case Development for Value Motions (W6)* | ||
Objectives: 1. Make students understand the features of value motions; 2. Introduce to students the stock issues for value motions. | In-class activities: 1. Before class: Group 5 presentation on rhetorical fallacies; 2. Practice a PM speech; 3. Practice a DPM speech. | Assignments: 1. Read Chapter 10 p118-123. |
Section Seven: Counter-case Development for Value Motions(W7)* | ||
Objectives: 1. Introduce to students counter-case strategies for value motions, which include: a. resolution analysis b. counter-case contentions c. challenging definition or topicality
| In-class activities: 1. Before class: Group 6 presentation on rhetorical fallacies; 2. Practice an LO speech; 3. Practice a DLO speech.
| Assignments: 1. Read Chapter 8; 2. Read Chapter 11. |
Section Eight: Refutation and Rejoinder + BP Strategies(W8)* | ||
1. Understanding “burden of refutation”; 2. Understanding “burden of rejoinder”; 3. Getting to know refutation strategies; 4. Presenting the refutations. 5. Getting to know BP strategies.
| In-class activities: 1. Before class: Group 7 presentation on rhetorical fallacies; 2. Practice how to refute a point and present in class; 3. Flow a speech and refute the main arguments. | Assignments: 1. Watch a full BP debate; 2. Prepare for the first in-class debate. |
Section nine: model debates (W9-16)* | ||
Week 17 | Q&A session | Online |
Week 18 | Final Test | Online |
*All contents serve the teaching purposes of content, competence and skills.
四、教学策略与方法建议
Group presentations: At the end of Debating in English: A Critical Thinking Approach to Effective Speaking, there is a list of rhetorical fallacies (Appendix 2). Students will be divided into seven groups to present those fallacies with examples. Each group will be responsible for 13 fallacies. There are a few burdens that the speakers must fulfill:
1. Explain what those fallacies are;
2. Offer at least two examples to each fallacy to achieve adequate explanation;
3. Examples should be collected from academic resources either from the library or from the web;
4. Explain how such fallacies would harm the quality of argumentation;
5. Students are encouraged to use slides;
6. The time limit for each group presentation would be ten minutes.
7. Presentations that are shorter than 8 minutes or longer than 12 minutes will face the risk of being downgraded.
五、教材与学习资源
Johnson, Steven L. Winning Debates: Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2010.
六、考核方式
Part one: Daily Performance 10%
Part two: Model Debates’ Fulfillment 40%
Part three:Final PM Speech Presentation 50%