Eight UA Little Rock students in the Intensive English Language Program debated the usefulness of robots on Tuesday, Nov. 21, as part of their classroom assignment. Their main challenge wasn’t the assigned topic or even their personal uneasiness with public speaking. It was the challenge of debating in their non-native language.

The eights students, who represent seven countries, are students in Pam Henline’s class.

“These students have worked for hundreds of hours doing research, practicing their speaking, strategizing on how to beat the other team,” Henline told the audience gathered to watch the debate in the EIT auditorium.

For the debates, students were assigned a topic. Four students took the position that robots do more harm than good. The other four argued the contrary point: that robots do more good than harm.

“Speaking in your second language is so difficult because we have to think in our mother language and then translate,” said Rodrigo Luizetto, who earned a degree in production engineering in his native Brazil and hopes to enter the MBA program at UA Little Rock. He  plans to take another semester of Pre-University Studies to improve his English.

Participants included Ahmad Sales and Weam Felimban of Saudi Arabia; Rajan Patel of Panama; Dongkyu Kim of South Korea; Saida Begum of Pakistan; Rodrigo Luizetto of Brazil; Tho Nguyen of Vietnam; and Zheng Zhang of China.

Rajan Patel, a team captain, argued that robots do more harm because they replace workers and lead to job downsizing. His teammate Dongkyu Kim cited a study that estimated robots will perform 30 percent to 40 percent of all tasks in the auto industry by 2025.

Tho Nguyen argued the contrary and asked the audience, “How many of you can work seven days a week, 24 hours as a day?” The use of robots can help resolve human limitations, she said.

Rodrigo also helped support Nguyen’s argument by citing the use of robots to diffuse bombs, investigate explosive threats, and handle hazardous materials – all potentially saving human lives.

After several rounds, judges declared the pro-robot team the winners.

In upper right photo, students Zheng Zhang, Tho Nguyen, Weam Felimban, and Rodrigo Luizetto offer a rebuttal to opposing team captain Ahmad Sales in the Intensive English Language Program debate on Nov. 21, 2017.

Photo Credit: Lonnie Timmons III/ UA Little Rock Communications