VOA教育报道2023--Debate Brings Many Benefits to Students

Debate Brings Many Benefits to Students

Nearly three hours after midnight, Tajaih Robinson and Iyana Trotman of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina finally heard the judges' decision. They had defeated the University of Michigan in the finals on April 4.

After 12 debates over four straight days, the Wake Forest team won the 2023 National Debate Tournament (NDT). Their coach, Justin Green, described the moment as: "Hugging, yelling², crying, and laughing..."

Over 500 colleges and universities in the United States have competitive³ debate programs. The program gives students a chance to work together to argue for or against an issue or statement.

Benefits of debate

Students and their coaches point to several benefits of the activity. They say debate helps develop research skills, critical thinking skills, time management, and public speaking.

John Turner is Director of Debate at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. He said debaters research issues in detail and across many different areas of knowledge.

"We are drawing from academic materials from so many different subfields, many of which are never in conversation with each other. . . we are bringing this full variety of perspectives⁵ to bear on a common point."

Turner added that debaters can bring knowledge that other students might not have to their classes, especially in the social sciences. And undergraduate⁶ debaters often do as much research in a year as graduate students in master's and doctoral programs.

Kelly Phil is a member of the Michigan team that reached the NDT finals. She said research for her classes seems "incredibly easy" compared to the research for debate. Phil studies political science and history.

Like Turner, she said debate research is useful for classes.

"Debate gives you this big... background reservoir⁷ of knowledge that you can draw on at any point when you're writing a paper. . ."

Ana Bittner is another debater from Wake Forest. She thinks she is "more well-read than other students" and that debate has improved her ability to quickly process large amounts of information. For example, Bittner said she quickly looked through a 550-page book in about one hour to find information to support her debate arguments.

Mikaela Malsin is Director of Debate at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. She said debate helps students think about both sides of an issue and learn respect for others:

"Not many activities or areas that you encounter⁸... really challenge you to think differently and to take on different perspectives... the switch-side nature of policy debate is really significant⁹."

Like student-athletes, top debaters travel to competitions on weekends. And they can spend up to 30 or 40 hours a week preparing for important tournaments.

Ari Davidson of Wake Forest said a debater might miss up to 10 classes each semester¹⁰. This makes it very difficult for some students to debate, especially if they have science classes that require time in laboratories¹¹.

Phil, of Michigan, said the extra time she spends on debate feels like "just another part of academic life." She also finds that debating makes her more willing to speak in class. She says that when she has a clear idea of what she wants to say, "it's really not that difficult to speak in public."

Both Malsin and Turner said the best debaters can combine large amounts of information and explore many different arguments.

Above all, Davidson and Turner said the activity acts as a laboratory¹² for testing ideas and looking for solutions to big problems.

An international student learns to debate

Kamal Belmihoud came from Algeria to study at Clarion¹³ University in Pennsylvania. English is not his first language. In fact, it was his fourth. But that did not stop him from joining the debate team.

For the first year and a half, Belmihoud lost every debate. But his coaches kept supporting him, and he enjoyed the travel and being a member of the debate community. Over time, Belmihoud increased his language skill and confidence. In his last semester, he won several debates.

Now Belmihoud teaches writing at Baruch College of the City University of New York. He includes in-class debates as part of his teaching¹⁴.

Belmihoud says international students should not let fear stop them from trying debate or other activities. Instead, they should center on the progress they are making and being part of a team.

Words in This Story

coach -n. a leader or trainer of a team

hug -v. to embrace¹⁵ or put one's arms around something

yell¹ -v. to shout or call out in a loud voice

benefits -n. positive aspects or helpful results

management -n. ability to control or organize

academic -adj. relating to schools, colleges, and universities

perspective⁴ -n. a point of view or way of thinking about things

bring (something) to bear on -(idiomatic) to cause to have an effect on

undergraduate -adj. referring to students at universities who study for associate's or bachelor's degrees

graduate -adj. referring to students at universities who study for masters or doctorate¹⁶ degrees

reservoir -n. a large container holding water, such as a lake, or a source of large amounts of information

encounter -v. to meet or experience something

challenge -v. to require special effort to do a task or achieve a goal

significant -adj. of special importance

semester -n.In colleges and universities in some countries, one of the two main periods into which the year is divided.

1 yell   

vi./n.号叫，叫喊

参考例句：

• This gave them a chance to yell.这给了他们大声喊叫的机会。
• When his schoolmate made the last goal,the boy gave out with an untrammeled yell.那个男孩在他的同学踢进最后一球时不禁纵声欢呼。

2 yelling   

v.叫喊，号叫，叫着说( yell的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The coach stood on the sidelines yelling instructions to the players. 教练站在场外，大声指挥运动员。
• He let off steam by yelling at a clerk. 他对一个职员大喊大叫，借以发泄怒气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。

4 perspective   

n.视角，观点，想法

参考例句：

• You can get a perspective of the whole city from here.从这里你可以看到城市的全景。
• We may get a clear perspective of the people's happy lives.我们知道人民对幸福生活的展望。

5 perspectives   

n.透视( perspective的名词复数 )；透视图；观点；全景

参考例句：

• We suggest that it is possible to reconcile these apparently opposing perspectives. 我们认为这两个看似对立的观点是可以调和的。 来自辞典例句
• These countries loom big in the perspectives of European writers. 这些国家在欧洲作者们的心目中是庞大逼人的。 来自辞典例句

6 undergraduate   

n.大学生，大学肆业生

参考例句：

• Mr. Stone spent his undergraduate days in Columbia University,majoring in economics.斯通先生在哥伦比亚大学度过了他四年的大学生活，主修经济学。
• During this time,they are called undergraduate students.在此期间，他们被称为大学本科生。

7 reservoir   

n.水库，蓄水池；(人才等的)储藏，汇集

参考例句：

• The town is supplied with water from a reservoir.该城镇由小山中的一座水库供水。
• A large quantity of water is stored in the reservoir.水库存了大量的水。

8 encounter   

v.遇到，偶然碰到；遭遇；n.遭遇；意外的相见

参考例句：

• It was a bloody encounter between the two armies. 这是那两军之间的一次激烈的遭遇战。
• A fortunate encounter brought the two friends together after a long separation.两位老朋友长期分离这次才有幸相遇。

9 significant   

adj.相当数量的；意义重大的；意味深长的

参考例句：

• Your success today may be significant for your whole future.你今天的成功对你的整个未来可能是重要的。
• She cast him a significant smile.她向他投去意味深长的一笑。

10 semester   

n.一学期，半学年，六个月的时间

参考例句：

• A student will probably attend four or five courses during each semester.每个学生一学期可能要修四五门课程。
• I had an especially rough time during my first semester.我第一个学期的日子难受极了。

11 laboratories   

n.实验室( laboratory的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For, eight years, Marie Curie worked in cold laboratories with poor equipment. 整整八年，居里夫人在设备简陋、冰冷的实验室里做着实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• Some commercial laboratories use periodic nitrate tests as guides. 许多商业性的试验室已应用定期的硝态氮分析作为指导。 来自辞典例句

12 laboratory   

n.实验室，化验室

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a laboratory.她捐款成立了一个实验室。
• Our laboratory equipment isn't perfect,but we must make do.实验室设备是不够理想，但我们只好因陋就简。

13 clarion   

n.尖音小号声；尖音小号

参考例句：

• Clarion calls to liberation had been mocked when we stood by.当我们袖手旁观的时候，自由解放的号角声遭到了嘲弄。
• To all the people present,his speech is a clarion call.对所有在场的人而言，他的演讲都是动人的号召。

14 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

15 embrace   

vt.拥抱；包括；包围，环绕；n.拥抱，怀抱

参考例句：

• He held her to him in a warm embrace.他热列地拥抱她。
• The hills embrace the village.山丘环绕着村庄。

16 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？