【Teaching Practice Report】

Debate Planning and Practice Using Argument Diagrams
Robert A. Smith
Abstract
Effective debate is predicated on the debaters’ sound understanding of argumentation. When attempting to teachdebate in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes, students initially require instruction in the fundamental
skills of argumentation and opportunities to practice those skills repeatedly. This article describes how Stephen
Toulmin’s model of argumentation and the argument diagrams derived from it could assist students in practicing
essential debate skills such as argument creation, argument comprehension and argument analysis. The practiceactivities are designed to fit into a task-based language teaching (TLBT) framework and reference cognitive theory.
Practicing the basic concepts of argumentation using this diagram technique may provide EFL students with asimple, flexible and easily repeatable method for acquiring debate skills. Teachers and students could both benefit
from applying some or all of these debate practice techniques in their debate classes.
Keywords: EFL, Debate, Argumentation, Skill acquisition, Task-based Language Teaching

Introduction
Debate can be a useful task to assign students in EFL classrooms as there is a strong focus on
speaking and listening. Newman & Woolgar (2014) state that “…the point of [debate in a classroom
environment] will be to develop the students’ speaking and listening skills [but] can also be a usefulteaching tool for delivering content and understanding across the curriculum” (p.7). Debate offers
not only a communicative element, but also the opportunity for students to learn and think about
unfamiliar content or re-think familiar content in a more deliberate and critical manner. The
competitive nature of debate can also be a motivating factor that encourages students to be better
communicators and better researchers. Debate is essentially “The process of inquiry and advocacy;
the seeking of a reasoned judgement on a proposition” (Freely & Steinberg, 2008, p.2). This process
is driven by argumentation, “…reason giving in communicative situations by people whose purposeis the justification of acts, beliefs, attitudes, and values” (Freely & Steinberg, 2008, p.5). In an
academic debate, it is assumed that both debate teams have an equal understanding of what anargument is and how to justify arguments so that a reasoned judgement can be realised. To ensure afair debate, all debaters should be able to recognise an argument as opposed to an opinion, construct(strong) arguments, analyse arguments and discover weaknesses in them, listen to and comprehend
opposing arguments, and present their arguments and rebuttals in a comprehensible manner. The
common element in all of these competencies is the knowledge of argumentation. Winning thedebate is dependent on sound argumentation and both teams must feel confident in their ability toargue effectively. If the debating teams do not have an equal understanding of this basic concept, one
team will have an unfair advantage over the other. However, many EFL students need substantial
practice in argumentation before they will feel comfortable participating in a live academic debate.
Language ability and confidence can also vary significantly from student to student so that one
student may dominate a debate or do more work than is required in a team that is supposed to becooperating equally. Practicing argumentation in a debate class is therefore beneficial because it
raises awareness of the central concept of debate, ensures a fair debate, and can give students
141

多言語教育実践ジャーナル

第2巻 （ JOURNAL OF MULTILINGUAL PEDAGOGY AND PR ACTICE, VOL. 2）

confidence in their ability. To this end, Steven Toulmin’s model of argumentation and specifically the
diagrams in which he represents arguments presents itself as a convenient and useful pedagogicaltool in EFL debate classes. Argument diagrams formalise the structure of reasoning behind each andevery argument by separating and clarifying the essential elements. Existing arguments can be
deconstructed into the diagram so that students can practice analysing logical (or illogical)
connections between the elements of any argument. New arguments can be constructed by filling in
empty diagrams with relevant information. Repeated practice of deconstruction, analysis,reconstruction, and construction of new arguments could provide the solid grounding inargumentation that may lead to more coherent arguments and improved language skills. There may
also be the added benefit of students becoming better critical thinkers as many scholars recognise aclose connection between proficiency in the skill of argumentation and the ability to think critically
about a topic. (Diyanni; 2016 Egege; 2021 Freeley & Steinberg; 2008 Swatridge; 2014)

Literature Review
Freely and Steinberg (2008) highlight the significant cognitive load that is required for argument
construction and analysis. According to Freely and Steinberg (2008), when preparing arguments fora debate, students must research issues, organise and analyse data, synthesize data, and evaluate thequality of information they find. They must also understand how to reason, recognise and critiquedifferent methods of reasoning and comprehend the logic of decision making. Subsequently, students
must then acquire the skill of communicating their arguments with words and be able to process thearguments of others quickly. It is not surprising that, “The creation of an argument is one of the mostcomplex cognitive acts students can engage in” (Freely & Steinberg, 2008, p.38). Teachers can utilise
task-based language teaching methodology and cognitive theory to help students deal with thiscomplexity. In task-based language teaching methodology, tasks should always involve a “pre-task”(Ellis, 2003) or a “facilitating task” (Willis & Willis, 2007). Essentially, this is a planning andpreparation stage that enables students to become familiar with what the goals of the task are andhow to accomplish the goals. This step also functions as a way “…to ease processing load and to pushlearners to interpret tasks in more demanding ways” (Ellis, 2003, p.249). Ellis also presents researchbased evidence for a positive effect on fluency and complexity when strategic planning (planningcompleted before the commencement of the task itself) is employed (Ellis, 2003). A learning strategy
specific to argumentation can also be beneficial to debate skill acquisition. “In L2 learning, taskrelevant learning strategies increase the likelihood of task success [and] have a positive spill-overeffect onto other task outcomes: affective judgements about the task, the language, and the self”(Oxford, 2017, p.72). Therefore, practicing argumentation using a strategic plan before doing aformal debate should reduce the cognitive load of the task and instil more confidence in students’ability to successfully complete the task. Argument mapping is conducive to use as a strategic planfor debate because the key elements of an argument can easily be distinguished and checked forreasoning and logic. This familiarizes students with the goals of a debate and makes successful
completion of the debate more likely. Toulmin’s model of argumentation (Toulmin, 1958), also known
as “Toulmin’s Argument Pattern,” has been applied to academic English composition classes in the
United States (Kneupper 1978; Karbach 1987) and in EFL writing classes in Japan (Oi, 2005). These
writers concur that using the model results in improvements in the logical organisation andcoherence of essay writing and note benefits for students and teachers. For example, Locker &Keene (1983) as cited in Karbach (1987) acknowledge the benefits for both teachers and students by142

DEBATE PLANNING AND PRACTICE USING ARGUMENT DIAGRAMS

stating “Instructors can use this model to show students the faulty or inadequate logic in theirwriting, but best of all, students can use the model as a heuristic to check the logic in their own roughdrafts” (Karbach, 1987, p.90-91). Although the studies mentioned above concern the teaching ofwriting, I believe that Toulmin’s model of argumentation can provide similar benefits when applied tothe teaching of debate. Toulmin’s argument model consists of three main parts: claim, warrant andgrounds. The “claim” is the thesis of an argument, the “warrant” is an assumption that links the claim
to the grounds, and the “grounds” is the support/evidence for the claim. Toulmin also identified the“backing,” “qualifier,” “reservation,” and “rebuttal”. Of these, the “rebuttal” and the “qualifier” seemthe most useful to debate practice activities. “Rebuttals” are possible objections to the claim, warrant,
or grounds, and a “qualifier” is something that limits and restricts the range of a claim. In an EFL
class, these terms may be difficult for students to remember so adapting some of them to those in theright column of the table below may be of some assistance.
Toulmin Terminology

Debate Class Terminology

Claim

Position Statement

Warrant

ReasonGrounds

Support (Evidence/Example)

Rebuttal

Rebuttal (But /However /Unless)Qualifier

Point of view/Viewpoint

Using Toulmin’s diagrammatic style and the terminology for a debate class, an example
argument for the proposition ‘Universities in Japan should return to face-to-face classes in 2021’ canbe represented diagrammatically in the following way.
Figure1 1FigureExamplea Completed
Argument
Diagram
Exampleof aofCompleted
Argument
Diagram
Position Statement
Universities in Japan should return to face-to-face EFL classes in 2021
ReasonBecause students don’t
effectively online.

Support (Evidence/Example)
Students are easily distracted bysocial media when they takelessons online at home.

learn

Figure 2
Example of a Completed Argument Diagram Used for Practicing Reasons

Debate Practice
Position Statement

Universities
in Japanshould return
to face-to-faceclassesin 2021 argumentation in a
The style of argument
diagramdescribed
above
can be EFL
used
to practice
number of ways. I believe it is useful to use when practicing all elements of argument construction,
Reason In this section, I will describe Support
analysis, note-taking, and presentation.
how the diagrams could be(Evidence/Example)
used to practice eachof theseskills.
Students
are not debate
developing
social skills.

Students’ posture and eyesight are negatively
affected by extended hours in front of thecomputer.
Practicing
reasons
andonline.
support (argument construction)
Students don’t
learn effectively
It is difficult for teachers to manage and monitor
One way to practicereasons
could
be for the teacher to provide a list of supporting evidence andstudents during
onlineclasses.

have students brainstorm one reason based on each support. This activity is limited in possible
reasons that students could conceive of, however, it could be a useful alternative for lower-level
143

Figure 1
多言語教育実践ジャーナル
第2巻 Argument（ JOURNALOF MULTILINGUAL PEDAGOGY AND PR ACTICE, VOL. 2）
Example of a Completed
Diagram

Position Statement
Universities in Japan should return to face-to-face EFL classes in 2021

students.
Another more creative Reasonway (figure 2) for students to practice
could be to give them a position
Support (Evidence/Example)
Because students don’t learn
Students are easily distracted bystatement and then have them brainstorm as many reasons connected to the position statement as
effectively online.
social media when they takethey can think of.
lessons online at home.
Figure2 2FigureExamplea Completed
Argument
Diagram
Used
for Practicing
Reasons
Exampleof aofCompleted
Argument
DiagramUsed for
Practicing
Reasons
Position Statement
Universities in Japan should return to face-to-face EFL classes in 2021
ReasonSupport(Evidence/Example)

Students are not developing social skills.
Students’ posture and eyesight are negatively
affected by extended hours in front of thecomputer.
Students don’t learn effectively online.
It is difficult for teachers to manage and monitor
students during online classes.

In order to practice support, students could then be asked to search the internet for relevant
examples or evidence that matches the reasons they have brainstormed. Alternatively, the teacher
could provide a diagram with a position statement and a reason in addition to providing a newspaper
article or internet webpage relevant to the topic. Students would then be asked to search forsupporting evidence or examples from the article/webpage and to complete their argument
diagrams. A separate box or space for the source (author, year, etc.) could also be added to thediagram and practiced if deemed necessary.

Practicing position statements (argument construction)
The position statement is in fact the conclusion of the argument. If we take the argument weused in the diagram in the previous section, we can make this relationship clear by rearranging thethree elements of the argument in the following manner, “Students are easily distracted by social
media when they take lessons online at home so students don’t learn effectively online. Therefore,
universities should return to face-to-face EFL classes in the second semester of 2021.” As a result of
this relationship, students can practice developing position statements by being given reasons andsupport and then drawing a conclusion from them. For example, a student might be given a reason
and support such as those in figure 3 and then be asked to complete a third sentence starting with
“Therefore…” This conclusion, minus “Therefore”, would be the position statement.
Figure3 3
FigureExampleof Argument
an Argument
Diagramfor Practicing
Position
Statements
Exampleof an
DiagramUsed Used
for Practicing
Position
Statements
ReasonStudents don’t learn effectively
online.

Therefore,

Support (Evidence/Example)
Students are easily distracted
by social media when theytake lessons online at home.

Position Statement (Claim)

144

Figure 3
PLANNING AND PRACTICE USING ARGUMENT DIAGRAMS
Example ofDEBATE
an Argument
Diagram Used for Practicing Position Statements

ReasonSupport (Evidence/Example)
Students don’t learn effectively
Students are easily distracted
From the reason
and support in figure 3, students could
possibly deduce a position statement,
online.
by social media when theytakelearning
lessons online
at home.
such as “(Therefore) learning in the classroom is better than
online.”When creating andpracticing position statements, students may find it helpful to include a viewpoint such as, “From a
Position(Claim) in this manner, information that may
health/economic/safety point of view…”.
If Statement
not qualified
Therefore,
otherwise be implicit becomes explicit. An example and reasons for this will be described in the next
section on practicing rebuttals.

Practicing rebuttal (argument analysis)
Students need to understand that it is necessary to look at all three parts of the argument when
formulating a rebuttal and to attack the reason/claim connection and/or to attack the support if it isunreliable or untruthful. Rebuttals can be practiced by including another space to the three original
spaces. This rebuttal space can be labelled something along the lines of “but”, “however” or “unless”.
A completed rebuttal for the proposition “Universities in Japan should return to face-to-face EFL
classes in 2021” can be represented diagrammatically in the following manner.
Figure4 4FigureExamplea Completed
Argument
Diagram
Includinga Rebuttal
Exampleof aofCompleted
Argument
Diagram
Includinga Rebuttal
Position Statement (Claim)
Universities in Japan should return to face-to-face EFL classes in 2021
ReasonStudents don’t learn effectively
online.

Support (Evidence/Example)
Students are easily distracted
by social media when theytake lessons online.
BUT
Students get distracted inface-to-face classes also andare not concentrating on
studying all the time.

Students can practice analyzing and writing rebuttals to arguments by filling in a blank rebuttal
field after reviewing the previous three elements. Completed arguments could be supplied by theteacher or students could utilize previously completed diagrams from their own practice of creatingarguments. It is worthwhile spending quite a lot of time on practicing rebuttal as this skill is essential
to debate and can easily be practiced in the wrong way. For example, consider the argument andrebuttal in figure 5.
Figure 55
FigureExampleArgumentDiagram
DiagramIncluding
Including
Erroneous
Rebuttal
Exampleofofaa Completed
Completed Argument
an an
Erroneous
Rebuttal
Position Statement (Claim)
Universities in Japan should return to face-to-face EFL classes in 2021
ReasonStudents don’t learn effectively
online.

Support (Evidence/Example)
Students are easily distracted
by social media when they takelessons online.
BUT
Students can save money because
they don’t have to travel to andfrom university.

Figure 6

145
Example of a Completed Argument Diagram Including a Point of View
Position Statement (Claim)
From a learning point of view, Universities in Japan should return to face-to-face多言語教育実践ジャーナル

第2巻 （ JOURNAL OF MULTILINGUAL PEDAGOGY AND PR ACTICE, VOL. 2）

When viewed simply as a rebuttal to the position statement, the rebuttal above seems to besatisfactory, however, the rebuttal does not address the reason of the argument and the implicationthat classroom learning is superior to online learning. The central idea of this argument concerns theeffect on learning. In the above example, the cost of travelling to and from university is irrelevant toFigure 5
whether or not learning improves in an online or face-to-face environment. However, many students
Example of a Completed Argument Diagram Including an Erroneous Rebuttal
may falsely believethat “students can save money” is an effective rebuttal to “universities should
Position
Statement (Claim)
return to face-to-face EFL classes.” Using
the diagram,teachers can easily exemplify such erroneous
Universities in Japan should return to face-to-face EFL classes in 2021
rebuttal suggestions and highlight inferences that may not be immediately clear to students.
Moreover, adding a viewpointof weak argumentation. When
Reason can help students avoid such examples
Support (Evidence/Example)
Students
don’t
learn
effectively
Students
areeasilydistracted
formulating rebuttals, students should keep this viewpoint in mind andadd
it to the beginning of
online.
by social media when they taketheir rebuttal so that connections to the reasoning of the argument
areexplicit.
Teachers can referlessons online.
students back to this viewpoint if/when students provide vague orBUT
irrelevant rebuttals during
Students
can savemoney because
practice. A completed rebuttal practice (including the revised
positionstatement)
would resemble
they don’t have to travel to andthat as represented in figure 6.
from university.
Figure6 6
FigureExamplea Completed
Argument
Diagram
Including
Example of aofCompleted
Argument
Diagram
Includinga PointaofPoint
View of View
Position Statement (Claim)
From a learning point of view, Universities in Japan should return to face-to-face
EFL classes in 2021
ReasonStudents don’t learn effectively
online.

Support (Evidence/Example)
Students are easily distracted
by social media when theytake lessons online.
BUT
From a learning point of view
students get distracted inface-to-face classes also andare not concentrating on
studying all the time.

Qualifying the position statement can also make it easier to analyse and adjust rebuttals thatmight otherwise be weak. For example, by considering the viewpoint more closely the rebuttal infigure 5 could be changed to the following. “But (from a learning point of view) students don’t haveto spend time travelling to and from university and therefore should be able to get more sleep and be
more alert when they are taking lessons online.” The rebuttal now has a relevant connection to theeffect of online classes on learning. Before a debate, students can perform this sort of analyticalpractice with their own arguments in an attempt to predict possible rebuttals and reinforce their own
arguments.

Practice speaking/fluency (argument presentation)
The practice activities that I have described so far have a clear focus on thinking and writing
down ideas. After having done some written argument practice, students also need opportunities topractice argumentation through speaking. Creating cards from argument diagrams can facilitate avariety of communicative interactions. As an initial starting point, (especially for lower-level students)
teachers could create practice cards with various arguments already written on them. For example,
146

DEBATE PLANNING AND PRACTICE USING ARGUMENT DIAGRAMS

10 simple arguments are printed onto argument diagrams. Three sets of cards could then be createdfrom those arguments; one set of position statements, one set of reasons, and one set of supporting
evidence/examples. Once the basic idea of arguments (the idea of having three parts) has been
introduced to the class, groups of students would then be asked to recreate the 10 arguments bycommunicating the information on the cards. After the groups have finished matching theirarguments, each group could move around and look over the other groups’ work to check forsimilarities or differences. Another idea is to create two sets of cards; one set of argument cards
containing a position statement, reason, and support and one set of cards containing rebuttals to
those arguments. In pairs, one student has argument cards and the other has rebuttal cards. The aim
is for the two students to match correctly the arguments and rebuttals by communicating the content
of their cards to each other. This activity could lead into a less structured ‘ping-pong debate’ activity
where students could use rebuttals they remember from the previous card game or come up with
their own ideas impromptu. Another slightly more advanced card idea could be to provide cards withvarious position statements related to level appropriate topics. One student in the group (preferably
a group of three) would start by reading the position statement and the student on their left would
then say a reason for or against the proposition. The next student on the left would give an example
to support the reason. In a group of four, the fourth student could give a rebuttal. Points could beawarded for contributions. Students can reinforce their knowledge of the basic elements ofargumentation while they practice presenting their arguments before a formal academic debate. As
preparation, diagrams can be used as note cards in the same way as note cards are used to give a
presentation. For example, completed argumentation cards could be used in conjunction with debatephrase cards (cards which include useful debate phrases) and practiced as a mock debate in teams.
Ultimately, the aim is to have students use the cards as a scaffold when they first begin speaking but
then to gradually introduce practice activities in which they rely less and less on the cards andconcentrate more on their speaking fluency.

Practicing listening for specific information and note-taking(argument comprehension)
It is necessary for students to take detailed notes when listening to other debaters either as an
opposing team member or as an audience member. To practice this skill, blank argument diagrams
can be given to the listeners and used as note-taking templates. Specific information related to the
proposition, reason, and support for each argument can then be easily recorded. While listening,some information may be incomprehensible and a blank or incomplete space will be left on theirnote-taking template. In this case, when the speaker concludes, it is easy for the listener to recognize
which piece of information is missing and then ask the speaker for repetition or clarification. Students
can also practice asking comprehension checking questions once all the template fields have been
filled, to ensure the information they recorded is as the speakers intended. Thus, through thisactivity, students can practice both note-taking and cross examination skills.

Summar y
In this paper, I have described the reasons why I believe Toulmin’s argument diagrams areuseful for practicing debate skills in EFL classes. I have also outlined how the diagrams could beapplied to the practice of argument construction, analysis, presentation, and comprehension. Debate
147

多言語教育実践ジャーナル

第2巻 （ JOURNAL OF MULTILINGUAL PEDAGOGY AND PR ACTICE, VOL. 2）

is an extremely complex task that requires many hours of practice. Incorporating this model ofargumentation into the planning and practice of debate could enable students to manage the taskcomplexity and provide them with a common springboard from which to learn effectively.

148

DEBATE PLANNING AND PRACTICE USING ARGUMENT DIAGRAMS

References
Diyanni, R. (2016). Critical and creative thinking: A brief guide for teachers. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell
Egege, S. (2021). Becoming a critical thinker. London: Red Globe Press
Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Freeley, A. J. & Steinberg, D. L. (2008). Argumentation and debate: Critical thinking for reasoned
decision making. (12th ed.). Boston: Cengage Learning
Karbach, J. (1987). Using Toulmin’s Model of Argumentation. Journal of Teaching Writing, 6(1),81-91. Retrieved from https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/teachingwriting/article/view/821
Kneupper, C. W. (1978). Teaching Argument: An Introduction to the Toulmin Model, College
Composition and Communication, 29(3), 237-241. Retrieved from https://publicdiscourse.unc.
edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/Toulmin-Model.pdf
Newman, D. & Woolgar, B. (Eds.). (2014). Pros and cons: A debater’s handbook. (19th ed.). London:
Routledge
Oi, K. (2005). Teaching Argumentative Writing to Japanese EFL Students Using the Toulmin Model,
JACET Bulletin, 41, 123-140 Retrieved from https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/10501483
Oxford, R. L. (2017). Teaching and researching language learning strategies: Self-regulation in context.
(2nd ed.). New York: Routledge
Swatridge, C. (2014). Oxford guide to effective argument and critical thinking. Oxford: Oxford
University Press
Toulmin, S. (1958). The uses of argument. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Willis, D. & Wills, J. (2007). Doing task-based teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press

149