The paper analyzes the effectiveness of debate techniques in the process of­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ learning English as a forein language and how such effectiveness improves students’ speaking ability in the Darul Arafah Raya Islamic Boarding School. Teaching English was previously based on teacher’s centered methods focusing only on teachers so learning process seemed boring.As a result, the students were weak in speaking. The study used a qualitative descriptive method as well as class room action research. Data were obtained from responses by the sixth grade students who were given pre- and post-tests. The results show that the students are able to choose and use suitable dictions and construct various types of sentences to express their arguments on the occcasions of different motions. Thus, students’ speaking ability in the school indicate sufficient improvement after teachers chose and applied debate techniques in learning English.