Using Debating Subjects in ESL College Students’ Oral English Ability Enhancement

In the context of the Covid- 19 pandemic in the past few years, online classes have been proven a necessity beyond a choice among learners, teachers, and educators. To ensure effective online learning during Covid- 19, many solutions have been given and applied. The study is aimed to assist young adult learners to develop a critical approach to interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating the findings from designed topics specialized for debating. This study utilizes a composite theoretical framework including the structure- affirmative and negative with argument presentation to suit young adult learners in the debating process. This paper mainly focuses on oral English which is considered as an important yardstick to measure learners’ language proficiency. A qualitative method was used and it was found that Debating skills contributed to a large extent to enhance the critical thinking abilities of these young adult learners. At the end of the paper, corresponding suggestions pertaining to classroom teaching and material development of oral English teaching, as well as oral English assessment in ESL colleges are put forward.