IVC professor organizes Chinese debate festival

August 9, 2004

Irvine Valley College Debate Coach Gary Rybold is the U.S. coordinator for an International Debate Festival held at the Xi’an International Studies University in the People’s Republic of China. The festival, held during the week of August 22-27, will be the first of its kind for China. The International Debate Education Association (IDEA) sponsors the program.

International participants for the festival involve students and coaches from ten countries including Russia, Moldova, South Korea, and Uzbekistan. Thirty U.S. participants have registered for the festival. Two students from IVC’s national championship debate squad will accompany Rybold in China.

Rybold has written a textbook, “Debate for English Language Learners” for the participants at the festival. The 50-page text was developed especially for training and focuses on beginning debate theory for English language learners. If it is well received, he plans to expand and polish it and hopes to find a publisher.

As the U.S. coordinator, Rybold is responsible for inviting the participants and arranging the presentations at the festival. In addition to managing the schedule, panel discussions, papers, mentoring sessions and demonstration debates, he will also train Chinese students during four days before the festival. The pre-festival training will involve 600 high school and college students and 100 teachers. The teachers will receive training to bring debate into English language classrooms.