Skip to content
PlayOwl

French · Grade 10

Explain and Defend a Position

Should phones be banned from the whole school site? In a lycée in Lyon (fictional), the student council debates the question. Learners build a nuanced thesis and a progressive plan, weigh four pieces of evidence (an illustrative survey, a school official's testimony, a viral post and a research summary) and the appeals they make (logos, ethos, pathos in measure), master the language of argument (degrees of certainty with the right mood, concession with bien que, même si and avoir beau, hypotheses with si), and answer objections with concession and rebuttal in a full essay and an optional oral defense.

  • 4 lessons
  • About 145 minutes
  • Argument check: 10 questions
  • Ways to answer: fill in the blanks, choose an answer, choose a reply, highlight a text, match pairs and type a number
Try it now (no account) One of the five free starter courses Open in PlayOwl

What learners will discover

  • Formulate a nuanced, arguable thesis (position, condition, reason) and organize a multi-paragraph argument with an introduction (amorce, problématique, thèse, annonce du plan) and a logical progression.
  • Support claims with relevant evidence, distinguish types of argument and appeals (logos, ethos, pathos in measure), and judge the strength of evidence (source, sample, representativeness, correlation versus cause).
  • Use advanced argumentative language: modality with the right mood (il est probable que + indicative; il est possible que + subjunctive), concession (bien que + subjunctive, même si + indicative, avoir beau) and hypotheses (si + imparfait → conditionnel; si + plus-que-parfait → conditionnel passé).
  • Anticipate objections and answer them with concession, rebuttal and a return to the thesis, in writing and, optionally, in an oral defense.

Lessons

  1. A nuanced thesis and a clear progression 6 steps3 practiceabout 36 min
  2. Evidence and appeals 7 steps4 practiceabout 36 min
  3. The language of argument 6 steps4 practiceabout 37 min
  4. Counterargument, rebuttal and defense 5 steps3 practiceabout 36 min
  5. Argument check 10 questions at the end

Keep exploring

More 10th grade world language

Guide for grown-ups