Kurdistan Regional Government

Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

University Of Gramian
Collage of Education //English Department
First Stage
Subject// Debate

A report about
Argumentation and Debate

Prepared By:
Azhar Hilal Mubarak
Supervised by
M. Media Rafiq

(2020-2019)

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Contents

Introduction........................................................................................ 2
1. Argumentation................................................................................ 2
Purpose and Development.................................................................3
2 . Debate............................................................................................... 4
History................................................................................................. 4
Student debating societies...............................................................5
BENEFITS OF DEBATING......................................................................... 5
3. Difference between Argument and Debate........................................6
Argument vs Debate...........................................................................6
References......................................................................................... 8

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Introduction

Argumentation and Debate: A Public Speaking Approach addresses the needs of

students with no prior experience in formal debate, limited experience in public
speaking, and little or no plans to compete in speech and debate tournaments. The
publication takes content beyond the classroom by featuring a chapter dedicated to
discussing argumentation and debate in different professional contexts.

1. Argumentation
is the process of forming reasons, justifying beliefs, and drawing conclusions with the
aim of influencing the thoughts and/or actions of others.
Argumentation (or argumentation theory) also refers to the study of that process.
Argumentation is an interdisciplinary field of study and a central concern of researchers
in the disciplines of logic, dialectic, and rhetoric.
Contrast writing an argumentive essay, article, paper, speech, debate, or presentation
with one that's purely persuasive. While a persuasive piece can be built with anecdotes,
imagery, and emotional appeals, an argumentive piece needs to rely on facts, research,
evidence, logic, and the like to back up its claim. It is useful in any field where findings
or theories are presented to others for review, from science to philosophy and much in
between.

You can use different methods, techniques, and tools when writing and organizing an
argumentive piece:

 dissoi logoi (showing a preponderance of evidence)

 expeditio (eliminating all the wrong items to come to a conclusion)
 Rogerian argument (appealing to common ground)
 Socratic dialogue (reaching a conclusion through answering questions)

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Purpose and Development

Effective argumentation has many uses—and critical thinking skills are helpful even in
everyday life—and the practice has developed over time.

 "The three goals of critical argumentation are to identify, analyze, and evaluate
arguments. The term 'argument' is used in a special sense, referring to the giving
of reasons to support or criticize a claim that is questionable, or open to doubt.
To say something is a successful argument in this sense means that it gives a
good reason, or several reasons, to support or criticize a claim."
 The Argumentative Situation
"An argumentative situation...is a site in which the activity of arguing takes place,
where views are exchanged and changed, meanings explored, concepts
developed, and understandings achieved. It may also be a site in which people
are persuaded and disagreements resolved, but these popular goals are not the
only ones, and too narrow a focus on them threatens to overlook much for
which argumentation is a central and important tool."
 Argumentative Theory of Reasoning"Now some researchers are suggesting that
reason evolved for a completely different purpose: to win arguments.
Rationality, by this yardstick...is nothing more or less than a servant of the hard-
wired compulsion to triumph in the debating arena. According to this view, bias,
lack of logic and other supposed flaws that pollute the stream of reason are
instead social adaptations that enable one group to persuade (and defeat)
another. Certitude works, however sharply it may depart from the truth."
 The Hitchhiker's Guide to Argumentation
"The argument runs something like this. 'I refuse to prove that I exist,' says God,
'for proof denies faith and without faith I am nothing.'

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2 . Debate

Debate is a process that involves formal discussion on a particular topic. In a debate,

opposing arguments are put forward to argue for opposing viewpoints. Debate occurs in
public meetings, academic institutions, and legislative assemblies. It is a formal type
of discussion, often with a moderator and an audience, in addition to the debate
participants.

Logical consistency, factual accuracy and some degree of emotional appeal to the
audience are elements in debating, where one side often prevails over the other party
by presenting a superior "context" or framework of the issue. In a formal debating
contest, there are rules for participants to discuss and decide on differences, within a
framework defining how they will do it.

Debating is carried out in debating chambers and assemblies of various types to discuss
matters and to make resolutions about action to be taken, often by voting.
[needed]
Deliberative bodies such as parliaments, legislative assemblies, and meetings of all
sorts engage in debates. In particular, in parliamentary democracies a legislature
debates and decides on new laws. Formal debates between candidates for elected
office, such as the leaders debates, are sometimes held in democracies. Debating is also
carried out for educational and recreational purposes, usually associated with
educational establishments and debating societies

History

Debating in various forms has a long history and can be traced back to the philosophical
and political debates of Ancient Greece, such as Athenian
democracy, Shastrartha in Ancient India. Modern forms of debating and the
establishment of debating societies occurred during the Age of Enlightenment in the
18th century

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Student debating societies

Princeton University in the future United States was home to a number of short-lived
student debating societies throughout the mid-1700s, and its influential American Whig
Society was co-founded in 1769 by future revolutionary James Madison. The first of the
post-revolutionary debating societies, the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, were
formed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1795 and are still active.

The first student debating society in Great Britain was the St Andrews Debating Society,
formed in 1794 as the Literary Society. The Cambridge Union Society was founded in
1815, and claims to be the oldest continually operating debating society in the World.
[14]
This claim is arguably valid because Princeton's societies had been shut down during
the American Revolutionary War, while the UNC societies' operations were briefly
suspended during the American Civil War.

Over the next few decades, similar societies emerged at several other prominent
universities. Examples include the Oxford Union, the Yale Political Union and
the Conférence Olivaint.

BENEFITS OF DEBATING

Decades of academic research have proven that the benefits that accrue as a result of
engaging in debate are numerous.

Debate provides experiences that are conducive to life-changing, cognitive, and

presentational skills.

In addition, through debate debaters acquire unique educational benefits as they learn
and polish skills far beyond what can be learnt in any other setting.

At the very least, debate helps learners to see the power of deploying rational, reasoned
arguments and compelling evidence in action. It enables them to elucidate their
standpoint through utilizing rhetorical eloquence. It instills in debaters a great sense of

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poise and confidence. It teaches them the skills of researching, organizing, and
presenting information in a compelling fashion.

In general, the benefits of debate include:

 Gaining broad, multi-faceted knowledge cutting across several disciplines outside the
learner’s normal academic subjects.
 Increasing learners’ confidence, poise, and self-esteem.
 Providing an engaging, active, learner-centered activity.
 Improving rigorous higher-order and critical thinking skills.
 Enhancing the ability to structure and organize thoughts.
 Enhancing learners’ analytical, research and note-taking kills
 Improving learners’ ability to form balanced, informed arguments and to use
reasoning and evidence.
 Developing effective speech composition and delivery.
 Encouraging teamwork.


3. Difference between Argument and Debate

Argument vs Debate
What is the difference between argument and debate? Both ‘argument’ and ‘debate’
are related terms that can be used by English speakers to describe speaking about a
topic and providing support to their opinions on it. For example, “She presented an
argument about her opinion on the topic, and that lead to a debate among her
coworkers.”
The noun ‘argument’ means in technical terms statements, reasoning or evidence
presented by someone in written or spoken form that support something, such as a
particular opinion. For example, “He provided a valid argument for having a four day
work week.” It can also have the meaning of a discussion in which people express their
differing opinions with one another on a topic. For example, “The company allowed the

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argument of the issue of a four day work week to be discussed openly by all at the
meeting.” Arguments in this sense are generally persuasive in their nature about a
subject, but don’t often end in a decision or a formal ruling. ‘Argument’ also has a less
formal and more commonly used meaning of an angry or passionate disagreement
about something. For example, “Bob got into a heated argument with his boss about
whether or not he should have Fridays off each week.”

A ‘debate’, as a noun, is understood as a formal discussion between people or groups of

people that is regulated. Interestingly, debates are considered based on ‘arguments’,
which are lines of reasoning, support or evidence about a subject. However, a debate
has the feeling of a larger, longer or more formal discussion. A formal debate may even
be judged by a person or a panel of people, with one side winning the debate by
providing the best lines of reasoning or support for the issue. For example, “She argued
that people should have the right to decide about their own medical care at the
debate.”

A debate has also come to have a meaning similar to an argument in the negative sense
in colloquial English in modern usage. For example you may hear someone say, “The
child had an all-out debate with his mother about not eating his peas.” In this less
formal usage, the word ‘debate’ is used to show the discussion or disagreement was
more involved or longer than a normal argument, or perhaps less emotional or
passionately angry. ‘Debate’ carries the idea of more intellectual discussion about
disagreement when used this way, as opposed to ‘argument’, which implies a more
emotion driven quarrel.

In general, ‘Argument’ means a line of reasoning or evidence in support of an issue or

opinion. It has a more informal usage, as well as it can imply a personal dispute that has
a more negative meaning to it. ‘Debate’ is more often used as a formal word that
implies a larger or public-style discussion with people supporting both sides of the issue
and rules or specific guidelines governing the proceedings.

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References

1. O'Neill, James Milton (1917). Argumentation and Debate. Macmillan.

pp. ix.
2. ^ Hill, Forbes (October 1964). "New Books in Review". Quarterly
Journal of Speech. 50 (3): 338–
339. doi:10.1080/00335636409382676.
3. ^ Ecroyd, Donald (December 1951). "New Books in Review:
Argumentation and Debate". Quarterly Journal of Speech. 37 (4):
503. doi:10.1080/00335635109381707
4. www. [Link]
5. [Link]