SUFFICIENT REBUTTALS
IN PUBLIC SPEAKING CLASS DEBATE ACTIVITIES
Pratiwi Pamularsih
ABSTRACT
Debate is the final activity in Public Speaking Class. In debate activity, students are not only presenting their team arguments but also attacking their opponents’ arguments by delivering rebuttal. Rebuttal as many experts says is a vital part of a debate as a sign that interaction is happening in the debate. This study analyzes and evaluates the students rebuttals presented during the debate activity. The two debate activities from two different classes of Public Speaking are recorded and transcribed as the data to be analyzed to answer the question how sufficient is the students’ rebuttals presented during the debate activity. Content analysis is used to analyze the students’ rebuttals deeper, because it enables researcher to study human behavior indirectly (Wallen, 2007). The study groups the students’ rebuttals into three categories which are (1) weak rebuttal; (2) average rebuttal; and (3) strong rebuttal. The domination of weak rebuttals in the data shows that students are aware about the importance of rebuttal in the debate, but still have difficulties analyzing the opponents’ arguments to later deliver the rebuttal to prove that their opponent is wrong. The finding suggests additional time preparation and more intensive debate practice are needed to familiarize the students in delivering rebuttal during their debate.
