An Analysis of the Cicero English Debate Tournament 2004-2006 and Its Implications for Coaching High School Students for Competitive English Policy Debate
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Date
2008-03-??
Authors
常紹如
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
英語學系
Department of English, NTNU
Department of English, NTNU
Abstract
自2004年至今，台北市政府教育局已連續四年舉辦名為「西賽羅盃」的政策性英語辯論比賽。也因為該賽之舉辦，英語辯論－一個具高度教學價值但在台灣長久被忽略的口語活動－終有機會在北市高級中學中獲得些許注意。「西賽羅盃英語辯論比賽」之誕生及其用意固然值得嘉許和肯定，但參賽同學是否確由比賽中領略辯論之精神及本質，卻有待檢驗。為此，本文研究分析自2004至2006年間共十場賽事，並將研究焦點鎖定於辯論結構與論點內容。分析發現固然辯論之整體架構大致依循政策性辯論所採用之「背景－問題－方案－評估」的公式結構，但細部內容及組織卻有諸多缺失或不足，如辯論政策之欠缺和運用不當、交叉質詢之誤解與誤用、證據使用不足和引用不確實、以及論述中思維不合邏輯之謬誤。文中並就如何導正前述缺陷，提出若干建議。此外，本文亦就辯論對英語學習之助益及台灣本地之英語辯論研究做一摘要及評述，以進一步了解「西賽羅盃英語辯論比賽」成立之目的及參賽同學之表現。
Since 2004, the Taipei City Department of Education has held an annual English policy debate contest for high school students, called the Cicero Debate Tournament. Because of this interscholastic event, the long neglect of debate as a pivotal pedagogical vehicle in the high school English curriculum in Taiwan may finally stand a chance for change. While the competition warrants applause for its attempted goals, it is unclear to what extent its participants had grasped the spirit and essence of a competitive English debate. To address that question, an analysis was conducted on ten debates obtained from the Tournaments between 2004 and 2006 with a focus on structure and content. It was found that: (a) While the debates overall followed the superstructure of a policy debate, i.e., situation-problem-solution-evaluation, there were many inadequacies and deficiencies concerning the strategies for constructing and organizing the contentions in individual speeches; (b) there were misunderstandings of the purpose and functions of cross-examination; (c) there was insufficient and improper use and presentation of evidence; and (d) there was flawed or fallacious reasoning. Suggestions are then made for future participants in the Tournament or any English policy debate. Besides a content analysis of the debaters' performance, the paper also discusses the pedagogical merits of debate in the ESL/EFL curriculum, and reviews the local research on English debate in the hope of achieving a better understanding of the purposes of the Tournament and the study's findings.
Since 2004, the Taipei City Department of Education has held an annual English policy debate contest for high school students, called the Cicero Debate Tournament. Because of this interscholastic event, the long neglect of debate as a pivotal pedagogical vehicle in the high school English curriculum in Taiwan may finally stand a chance for change. While the competition warrants applause for its attempted goals, it is unclear to what extent its participants had grasped the spirit and essence of a competitive English debate. To address that question, an analysis was conducted on ten debates obtained from the Tournaments between 2004 and 2006 with a focus on structure and content. It was found that: (a) While the debates overall followed the superstructure of a policy debate, i.e., situation-problem-solution-evaluation, there were many inadequacies and deficiencies concerning the strategies for constructing and organizing the contentions in individual speeches; (b) there were misunderstandings of the purpose and functions of cross-examination; (c) there was insufficient and improper use and presentation of evidence; and (d) there was flawed or fallacious reasoning. Suggestions are then made for future participants in the Tournament or any English policy debate. Besides a content analysis of the debaters' performance, the paper also discusses the pedagogical merits of debate in the ESL/EFL curriculum, and reviews the local research on English debate in the hope of achieving a better understanding of the purposes of the Tournament and the study's findings.