The Role of English Debating Tournament in the Face of the ASEAN Economy Community (AEC)

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dhado

A paper examines how the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), established in late 2015, pushes participating countries to improve English teaching quality due to ongoing English proficiency challenges. It argues that English debating or forensic tournaments can develop globally competitive individuals by strengthening English competence and higher-order thinking skills. The study discusses tournament typology, research-based links to language and critical thinking gains, an Indonesian EFL classroom example, and implications for English teaching in Indonesia.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

English as a Global and ASEAN Context Requirement

English in Indonesia (EFL) and Learning Challenges

English Debating/Forensic Tournaments in Education

DINAMIKA ILMU Vol. 16 No. 1, 2016 P-ISSN: 1411-3031; E-ISSN: 2442-9651 The Role of English Debating Tournament in the Face of the ASEAN Economy Community (AEC) Husnawadi The Alumnus ofTESOL Flinders University, Australia [debater1985@gmail.com](debater1985@gmail.com) Syamsudarni A Master Student at the University of Flinders, Australia [syamsudarni@yahoo.co.id](syamsudarni@yahoo.co.id) Abstract Since its establishment in the late 2015, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) with English as the official language has forced its participating countries to improve the quality of English language teaching, in the hope to prepare their people to be globally competitive, as the lack of English proficiency remains the main challenge across the country members. A myriad of empirical evidence shows that English forensic or debating tournament can bring about globally competitive individuals in terms of being highly competent in English together with having higher order thinking skills. In response to the above challenge, this paper sheds some light on how English debating tournament or teaching strategy can generate such competitive generations in Indonesia. Specifically, this paper presents (1) typology of English debating tournaments,(2) how English debating improves the language competence and critical thinking skills by drawing on some of respective research,(3) An example of its practice in an Indonesian EFL classroom and its principles, (4) and its implications on the teaching of English in Indonesia. Keywords: English debating, AEC, EFL. A. Introduction English language has been regarded as the global language, which is used by a group of people with different languages as a means of communication in the sectors such as economy, science and politics (Wu & Ben-Canaan, 2006) . Majidi (2013) opines that the “socioeconomic power” of English motivates people to embrace it as an international language. This sort of role that English has is known as “the gate-keeping role,” the role that necessitates every individual to acquire in order to get a smoother access jobs, scholarships etc. On account of its significant role, no matter how smart one is, one will never be able to compete globally unless one has a high command of English. At a lower context such as the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), among the many differences and challenges that exist in the participating countries, say; culture, language and religion, the former is the primary drawback (Yaakub, 2015) . One sector included in the AEC blueprint is the employment sector, which requires skillful and talented workers and businessmen. These targeted persons will be less capable of competing with others with high proficiency in English, who may come to their home countries seeking for jobs that primarily require highly proficient individuals in the target language. Hence, English has become the primary concern following its growing use in the ASEAN context (Yaakub, 2015) . For instance, a myriad of written discourses both in the forms of scientific studies, or accounts with respect to the issue or birth of AEC in relation to English language teaching has been pervasive among the countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Especially in Indonesia, the current minister of higher education research and technology, Muhammad Nasir, opines that the country is in preparation to adopt a bilingual curriculum with English and Indonesian language as the medium of instruction in the sphere of higher education as cited in the article entitled “the bilingual curriculum: a panacea” in TheJakartapost by Sugiharto (2015) . He states that the minister is under pressured following the arrival of AEC. This is to say that Indonesia is aware of the importance of English as for its generation to be able to compete in the international level, particularly in the upcoming AEC. In Indonesia, where English functions as a Foreign language (EFL), the use of the t

FAQs

Why does the AEC increase the need for improved English teaching?

Because AEC uses English as an official language and countries still face major English proficiency gaps, motivating higher-quality English instruction to prepare globally competitive learners.

How does English debating tournament support language and thinking skills?

It is argued to build English competence while also strengthening higher-order thinking through structured critique and argumentation from multiple perspectives.

How is English debating commonly organized in Indonesia?

In English debating tournaments, teams (government and opposition) of students present arguments, typically with three speakers per team and subsequent reply speakers from earlier roles.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dhado