This document defines key terms used in an English debate, including: proposition, which is the controversial topic being debated; affirmative and negative teams, which argue for or against the proposition; speeches, where each team presents arguments for their side; cross-examination, where teams question each other; and rebuttals and summaries, where each team responds to the other's arguments and summarizes their own position.

1. DebateTerms
Rikkyo English Debate

2. proposition
It is the topic of the debate. It is a
statement about something
controversial* about which the
the two teams will make
arguments.
*controversial - describes a topic that many people
disagree about strongly.

3. propositionexample
“Time management is difficult for
university students.”

4. affirmative*team(AT)
The team that will give reasons
for the proposition.
*affirmative - positive, agree

5. affirmative*speech(AS)
The affirmative* team (AT) makes
arguments** that agree with the
proposition.
*affirmative - positive, agree
**arguments – a set of reasons

6. affirmativespeechexample
“We believe university students
usually don’t have to study as
hard as high school students.
However, time management can
be difficult, for instance, if
university students have part-time
jobs or don’t live at home with
their parents.”

7. negative*team(NT)
The team that will give reasons
against the proposition.
*negative - against, disagree

8. negative*speech(NS)
The negative* team (NT) makes
arguments** that disagree with
the proposition.
*negative - against, disagree
**arguments – a set of reasons

9. negativespeechexample
“Our team believes time
management is not difficult for
university students because
they have had to make and
follow schedules throughout
high school.”

10. crossexamination(CE)
It is to question the other team
to clarify* and better understand
the arguments.
*clarify - to make (more) clear
note: this is not a time to argue against the other team.

11. crossexaminationexample
“Was it easy for you to follow a
schedule in high school?”

12. rebuttal
After listening to the other team,
you respond to their arguments
and make arguments against what
they said.
note: there is a negative rebuttal (NR) and an affirmative
rebuttal (AR).

13. rebuttalexample
“Your team said time management was
not difficult in high school, but in high
school those schedules were made by
our schools, not ourselves. Those
schedules also did not include part-
time jobs. And because we were not
taught how to make our own schedules
in high school, it is not easy to create
our own schedules in university.”
note: this is an example of the affirmative rebuttal to the
negative speech.

14. summary
Summarize all of the arguments
from your team’s view.
note: there is a negative summary (NS) and an
affirmative summary (AS).

15. summaryexample
“While it is true that in high school we
followed schedules made by our
schools, they still showed us how to
effectively manage our time, and we
can continue that skill into university,
including with part-time work and club
and activities.”
note: this is an example of the negative summary.