debate
Does your school have a debating society, if
not, write a letter to your Principal
suggesting the need to establish a debating
society. Request the Principal to grant you
permission to tell your fellow students in
your morning assembly about the need for a
debating society.
Requirements of good speech delivery
Good voice
in your bid to deliver any speech to a group of
people, ensure that your voice is good enough so
that everyone can hear it. Do not shout or talk
too softly. But use a moderate voice, speaking
convincingly and with confidence.
Do not rush your speech
Do not speak like a person in a hurry. Do not
umble. It you do, your audience may nnd
dithcult to understand what you are Saying
speaking too fast or too slowly is not good
speech delivery.
requirements of a good debate
in addition to the requirements of good speech delivery, a good debate demands the following.
1 The debater should see the topic of the
debate as a case betore the law court, see
him/herselt as a prosecuting lawyer
whose duty is to argue the case beyond all
reasonable doubt and the listeners as
Sceptical judges who may agree or dis-
agree, depending on the strength of the
argument.
2 The debater should be able to appeal
to the listeners’ sense of reason instead
of their emotions. The ability to use persua-
sive expressions packed with cogent
reasons would help to achieve this
3 Comportment and boldness and fluency
of speech in a logical presentation are
also essential.
4 In addition to maintaining your selt-
contidence, you should relax and smile,
or trown at any point where there is need to
do so, as you deliver your speech. 1This
would not only help your audience to
develop confidence in you but will also
motivate their interests in wanting to
learn from you.
5 Avoid reading your speech from A to
Z or page by page. It would bore your
audience.
6 Remember to give enough time to
adequate preparation.
Sample speech
Mother tongue should be used as a medium
ot instruction in junior secondary schools
Good day, moderator, panel of judges, Ladies
and Gentlemen.
stand to oppose the motion that the mother
tongue should be used as a medium ot
instruction in junior secondary schoois.
First and foremost, there is no language
called mother tongue. But if, however, the topic
means the language of our mother, then my
question is: Whose mother language will be
generally accepted? In our country, Nigeria,
there are three large language groups – Igbo,
Hausa, Yoruba, and many smaller ones.
Breaking this down further, in these languages,
for example, there are different dialects. The
type spoken in one place is quite different from
that spoken in all others. If the mother tongue
is accepted as a medium of instruction in junior
secondary schools, whose dialect will then be
adopted in teaching and learning?
On completion of their degree
programmes, students are sent to different
parts of the country other than their home
towns to serve their fatherland. The majority
of them are posted to secondary schools
situated in states whose language they don’t
understand. If students in JSS are taught in their
mother tongue, how will the corps members
teach them since they don’t understand our
native languages?
It is obvious that some JSS subjects
Introductory technology, Integrated science,
Mathematics, Computer, etc. – are technical
in nature. Some ot these subjects do not have
terms in the native languages. If the students
are taught in their mother tongue, the teachers
will undoubtedly find it very difficult to explain
the terms tor the students to understand.
In October last year, Ifemeje Ifeyinwa,
a JSS 3 student, represented our school in an
essay competition organised by the Federal
Government for all junior secondary schools
in the country and emerged the best. Tell me,
my opponent, could it have been possible if she
had been taught in her mother tongue?
Mother tongue, if ever accepted as a
medium of instruction in junior secondary
schools, is sure to give room tor noise-making
and thus is tantamount to encouraging gross
indiscipline. This is because the students have
an intuitive knowledge of their mother tongue
and can speak it with ease and ebullience.
From the above mentioned points, it is
obvious that the English language, which is
our official language, is the only language that
can fit in superbly as a medium of instruction
in junior secondary schools.
Ibelieve that with these points I have been
able to convince you beyond any reasonable
doubt that mother tongue should not be used
as a medium of instruction in junior secondary schools.