DEMO: Teaching the 21st Century Student

Argumentation principles

Precise turn taking No interruptions, one speaker speaks at a time. Wait until others finish speaking, contributions should be signalized. Proper body language Direct eye contact, body should be oriented toward the audience. Non-aggression No personal attacks, confront issues, not people. Active listening Listen carefully to what the others are saying. Ask clarifica- tion questions, answer questions fully and clearly. Mutual respect Acknowledge other people's ideas, use empathy, no ridicule. Politeness strategies Use proper formulations, polite phrases, and respectful lan- guage in agreement or disagreement.

How to set up The teacher introduces the general structure for argumentation and provides strategies, including the typical formulation and signposting language phrases. These include phrases to introduce an argument, to provide reasoning and evidence of the point, to acknowledge the oppo- nent’s view, to find a stronger argument to reason out the opponent, and to reassert one’s own position. 1 In each argumentation activity, students should first accept general rules that the class either develops cooperatively or receives from the teacher. 2 Deliberate preparation is essential for effective argumentation. The learners need to be guided through a preparation phase when they collect reasons in support of their point. Binary analysis (Ch. 3.4) of the problem using a T-graph or a SWOT analysis (Ch. 3.6) further dis- tinguishing the positive and negative effects from the perspective of internal and external forces are the most suitable approaches to pre- pare for argumentation. The reasoning behind the decision making (Ch. 3.8) process using decision tables or decision trees is another ap- proach to justify one’s position. 3 To be able to effectively out-argue their opponents, the learners also need to refine their ability to anticipate opposing arguments. As they review all possible pros and cons, advantages or disadvantages, pos-

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