The Department of English Education (DEE), Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS), organized a General Lecture on Argumentative Speaking on 20 November 2025. The lecture, entitled “Beyond Rhetoric: Mastering Critical Thinking for Substantive Argumentation,” was delivered by Citra Dewi Harmia, M.A. and aimed to enhance students’ critical thinking, argumentation, and debating competencies.
The session emphasized that effective argumentation is not merely rhetorical performance, but a process grounded in the integration of logic, language, and knowledge. Students were encouraged to question assumptions, reason systematically, and approach issues from multiple perspectives. Critical thinking was presented not only as an essential academic skill, but also as an intellectual and ethical responsibility in contributing to democratic and social discourse.
Participants were introduced to the fundamentals of argument construction, analysis, framing, and rebuttal, with practical applications drawn from the British Parliamentary Debate format. The lecture covered debate structures, team strategies, burden of proof, and techniques for responding to opposing arguments through layered rebuttals and comparative analysis.
To strengthen practical understanding, real-world policy issues such as government social assistance programs and infrastructure development were used as case studies. These examples trained students to evaluate public policies critically and to formulate arguments that are well-reasoned, evidence-based, and contextually grounded.
The lecture also highlighted the importance of clear, inclusive, and contextually appropriate language, particularly within Indonesian debating practices, to ensure that arguments remain accessible and meaningful to broader audiences.
Through this General Lecture, DEE UMS reaffirmed its commitment to developing students’ analytical capacity, effective communication skills, and readiness to engage in constructive public discourse at both academic and societal levels.