Introduction to Debate
From talking to lots of coaches in Southern California it seems that some programs are approaching NFA-LD as a “spring semester” event – with the idea that we get our students warmed up in the fall and then do a big push to get the event ready for state/nationals over break in the spring. While I think it’s harder to jump onboard the moving train, I definitely respect that position. It looks like it’s how Rio Hondo will be participating in the event this year – we should have at least 2 NFA-LD debaters at the SoCal Champs!
For any of the new debaters who are just picking up the event I thought it might be helpful to offer a broad introduction to the world of NFA-LD debate. If you’ve done individual events or parliamentary debate you’ll have a nice framework to integrate NFA-LD into your events. If you’ve never done anything consider this a primer.
NFA-LD is a one-on-one policy debate event. By policy debate I mean that there is a single resolution for the entire season centered around a possible course of action a specific actor can or can not take. This year, the policy topic is centered on the United States Federal Government (often abbreviated USFG) reforming transportation infrastructure. So throughout the year debaters present arguments for or against reforming our transportation infrastructure. This is different from parliamentary debate that includes a variety of debate case styles (fact-value-policy) and changes resolution for each debate. In NFA-LD you’ll be debating the same resolution at every tournament in every round.
Now that may seem like it will get really boring really fast. But the beauty of the topic is that it’s sufficiently broad (some may say too broad) to allow some freedom for debaters to pick what area of transportation reform they will defend. For this year’s topic, my interpretation is that debaters can choose from reforming roads, rails, air, or the port systems. So while you may be debating “transportation reform” each round the specific action you debate can vary tremendously.
The other significant difference between parliamentary debate and NFA-LD debate is that debaters are expected to research and present quoted evidence (called cards since they used to be presented on 3×5 index cards). Since you know the topic ahead of time you are afforded the opportunity to research and prepare arguments that rely on published quotations from experts. Thus, while parliamentary debate generally focuses on a debater’s own reasoning, NFA-LD asks that debater’s substantiate that reasoning with qualified evidence. That’s not to say debaters in NFA-LD can not make their own arguments (often called “analytics”) but just that for the most part, if two debaters present arguments and one is backed up with quoted evidence and the other is only an analytic, usually the quoted evidence carries more weight.
NFA-LD debate is also highly structured with very specific rules. These rules are an attempt to create a level playing field for all debaters – create a shared expectation of what the event will look like so all debaters are prepared. The rules also set out a vision for the event as a communication oriented debate format. In contrast to other debate formats which place a strong emphasis on argumentation alone, NFA-LD debate tries to be different. For me, this is the strength of the event. You will learn different, equally important skills, by competing in NFA-LD as opposed to other formats of debate. While CEDA/NDT may emphasize the quantity of evidence, NFA-LD emphasizes the balance between argumentation and presentation.
The first step I recommend when beginning the event is to start reading as much on the topic as you can. You could just type “transportation infrastructure” into google and have fun with 102 million results. You can also go to the research tab above and click on any of the topic specific sites which can guide you into understanding the debate topic. The next step is to decide on your affirmative case. What do you want to do to reform transportation infrastructure? You need to come up with your plan – and build your case. You can ready more on that process here.
If you’re here at this site it’s likely because you will be competing in NFA-LD in the near future – congrats! I think you’ve made a great decision to improve your argumentation, public speaking, and critical thinking skills. I’ll be trying to post at least twice a week on this site to help promote NFA-LD so I hope this will become a valuable resource. Please feel free to add your voice in the comments section of the posts – we’d love to have a diverse set of opinions – it is, after all, debate =)
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a Reply