Devil’s advocate

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Idiom: Devil’s advocate

Now and then, an English teacher has to play devil’s advocate in the classroom.

I’ve been an English language conversation teacher longer than I care to say.

One thing I’ve learned is that having differing opinions on something helps to keep a conversation going.

Here, I will digress for a moment and use this as a teachable moment.

Notice that I said, ‘One thing I’ve learned.’

I didn’t say, ‘The one thing I’ve learned.’

‘The’ is a critical article.

I’ve learned many things during my teaching career and taught a few.

If I had said, ‘The one thing I’ve learned,’ it would mean that I’ve only learned one thing.

Anyway, ‘the’ can completely change the meaning of a sentence.

Now, to get back to today’s Idiom.

We usually say that a person in a discussion plays devil’s advocate.

When people play devil’s advocate, they pretend to have the opposite idea to the other people in the discussion or debate.

If everyone has the same opinion, they only talk about it from that point of view.

When a different opinion is introduced, everyone has to look at that point of view too and either argue for or against it.

Believe me, it’s not always easy to do.

I enjoy talking about controversial topics in the classroom.

My students and I always approach them maturely and academically.

It is, however, difficult to argue for a point of view which you don’t typically support.

Sometimes, I switch roles with students and have them play devil’s advocate.

That means they now have to argue a point they don’t actually believe.

This exercise forces them to use their language skills differently, strengthening them.

This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).

The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.