Contest Rules 2010
1. Overview
Franklin in cooperation with TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other
Languages) is organizing a global spelling competition for students who are
learners of English. Up to twelve countries will participate in the 2010 Franklin
Global SpellEvent, which consists of two stages. First, a local event will be
held in each participating country, resulting in the selection of 1st and 2nd place
winners. Second, both of these winners will travel to the U.S. for the final event
in New York City in August 2010, where they will compete against the winners
from other countries. The champion at the final event will receive a scholarship
valued at US $10,000.
2. Eligibility
a) Local affiliates (TESOL or other designated) will invite schools in each
country to identify Participants for the local event. A Participant in a local
event must be a student in good standing at one of these schools.
b) A Participant must not have reached his or her 15th birthday as of December
31, 2009 (i.e., the Participant must not have been born before January 1, 1995).
c) A Participant must not be a native speaker of English.
d) A Participant must not have any parent or legal guardian who is a native
speaker of English.
e) A Participant must not be a citizen or dual-citizen of any English-speaking
country.
f) A Participant must not have attended school in any English-speaking country
for more than one academic semester.
g) A Participant must not attend an English-medium instruction school, or have
attended such a school for more than one academic semester.
h) A Participant must not have more than one class (outside of the language
class) be in English, or more than 20% of instruction in English.
i) A Participant must not be a 1st or 2nd place winner of a previous local event.
Before the local event, the Participant must submit a participation form
(supplied by Franklin) signed by a parent or legal guardian and an official of the
Participant’s school that affirms the Participant is eligible to participate.
To participate in the final event in the U.S., a Participant:
a) must be a 1st or 2nd place finisher at a local event, or in the event one or both
of these cannot attend, a 3rd or 4th place finisher;
b) must have submitted to Franklin a properly executed consent and release
forms not later than 30 days before the final event; and
c) must obtain the necessary documents for travel to the U.S., such as valid
passport and visa (if required).
All Spelling words for the local and final event will come from Merriam- Webster’s Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary (Franklin model BES-2150 which also includes other content). For the final event, words will come from this source and may also be supplemented by words from Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition (Franklin model SCD-2100).
Franklin will provide official word lists to the Pronouncer and Judges at the
start of each local and final event.
Additionally, Franklin will post a “Practice” word list which will contain 175
words from the source Merriam-Webster Advanced Learner’s English
Dictionary. This list will be posted to assist in the studying and learning of the
English Language. This will be posted on the spellevent.org site.
NOTE: The practice words will be used in both the local and final
SpellEvent during the first 3 rounds including the practice round. Beyond
those rounds additional words will be used for both local and final events.
These words will be new and not previously published.
4. Organization of Rounds
Up to 48 Participants may participate in the local final event. (Maximum
number)
There will be a practice round at each local event. Each Participant will have a
chance to spell a “practice” word. This round will not count as a competition
round. This will be each Participant the opportunity to review the procedure
and understand how the local event will run. Everyone in the group will be
given a practice word to spell. Any wrong answers will not be counted as this
is only a practice round.
In Round one, each Participant will have a chance to spell a word that is read to
him or her by the Pronouncer. If the Participant spells the word incorrectly, he
or she will be eliminated from further rounds in the event. Each participant that
correctly spells a word will return to his/her seat and wait for the next round.
Each round is completed when all participants has had a word to spell.
In Round two and following rounds, each remaining Participant will have a
chance to spell a word correctly. These rounds will continue until we have top 4
finishers remaining. The final 4 will then move into the Championship rounds.
During the Championship rounds, when more than one participant is eliminated
at the same time, there will be a “play off” in order to determine their ranking
prior to moving on to the next round. When two participants are remaining, if
the first participant spells his/her word incorrectly the second participant must
spell their word correctly in order to be declared the Champion of the local
event. If the word is not spelled correctly, then both participants are returned to
the round and the round is continued until one participant remains.
Each Participant who participates in championship rounds will receive a
ranking from 1st to 4th place finisher in the local event.
5. Master of Ceremonies (MC)
The MC will serve as an Emcee for the local event. The MC is responsible for helping to welcoming Participants and guests, announcing the beginning and end of each round, and assisting with the overall management of the event. Additionally, the MC will be responsible for restating rules and guidelines for the event, the MC must be fluent in English, and explain the format of the event first in the native language of the country (except for the Final Event), and then in English. (Except for the introduction provided by the MC, the event will be conducted in English.) The MC will also introduce each Participant and the school he or she attends.The MC will work with the Franklin Event Manager, Pronouncer, and Judges in managing the overall event. At the conclusion of the event, the MC, Franklin and affiliate will announce the 1st through 4th place winners, and present them with their awards.
Franklin Event Manager will work with Affiliate staff (or other designated staff if applicable) to determine who will be responsible for tracking the rounds.
One Franklin Staff member and one TESOL Staff (or other designated staff is applicable) member to be responsible for keeping track of which Participants have been eliminated in each round, and for determining the ranking of the winners. This will be determined during the pre-meeting the day before the local event.
6. Pronouncer
The Pronouncer is responsible for reading spelling words aloud clearly and
properly to the Participants. The Pronouncer does not serve as a Judge during
the competition. For the local events, the Pronouncer must be a native speaker
of the dominant language of the host country, not a native English speaker. The
Pronouncer must also not be affiliated with any of the Participants or their
schools.
At the beginning of each Participant’s turn, the Pronouncer will say the spelling
word out loud. The Participant should repeat the word back to the Pronouncer.
If the Pronouncer feels the Participant has not understood the word, he or she
may repeat the word, or ask the Participant to repeat it until the Pronouncer
feels satisfied that the Participant has understood the word.
At this point the Pronouncer will start the 2-minute clock; the Participant must
give an answer within this time limit. The Participant may ask the Pronouncer
to provide the following information for the word: 1) alternate pronunciation, if
any, 2) the first dictionary definition- including part of speech, and 3) an
example sentence. This information will be part of the word lists provided by
Franklin.
If the Participant is near the end of the 2-minute period (approximately with 30
more seconds to go), the Pronouncer should remind the Participant of the time
and instruct him or her to spell the word.
Once the word has been spelled, the Pronouncer will confer with the other
Judges and inform the Participant whether the spelling was correct or incorrect.
If the spelling was incorrect, a Judge will ring the bell and the Pronouncer will
provide the correct spelling of the word.
7. Judges
There will be a minimum of two judges for the local and final events. The
Judges must not be affiliated with any of the Participants or their schools. The
Judges are responsible for deciding if the answers given by the Participants are
10/1/2009
correct or incorrect. The Judges have the authority to resolve any disputes and
ambiguities that may arise during the event. Their decisions are final.
If another Judge feels that the Pronouncer has given an incorrect pronunciation
of a word, the Judges will confer to reach a decision. The 2-minute clock will
not start until the Judges have agreed and the Pronouncer has clarified the
pronunciation for the Participant.
The main criteria for the Judges will be whether or not the Participant has
correctly spelled the word within the 2-minute time limit. For example, though
it is customary for a Participant to pronounce the word before and after spelling
it, failure to do so would not be grounds for elimination. So if the spelling word
was “contest” and the Participant said, “contest, c-o-n-t-e-s-t”, that would be
judged correct, even though he or she did not repeat the word after giving the
spelling.
The Judges will not allow Participants to have any writing implements or
materials during the event.
If the Judges do not feel they heard the spelling correctly, they may ask the
Participant to repeat it. The 2-minute time clock no longer applies during such
a request.
The Judges will eliminate a Participant who starts spelling a word, then starts
over and changes the original spelling given. However, the Participant may
retrace his or her spelling by starting over without changing the original
spelling given. The following are examples of what is and is not allowed, using
“contest” as the spelling word.
Not allowed: “c-o-m…(pause)…c-o-n-t-e-s-t”
Allowed (retracing): “c-o-n…(pause)…c-o-n-t-e-s-t”
8. Awards
For each Local Event:
- 1st Place: trophy, Franklin Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary product,
and all-expenses paid trip (including lodging, meals and US$50 spending
money) to New York City for 3 nights in August 2010 for Participant and a
parent or legal guardian
- 2nd Place: plaque, Franklin Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary product,
and all-expenses paid trip (including lodging, meals and US$50 spending
money) to New York City for 3 nights in August 2010 for Participant and a
parent or legal guardian
- 3rd and 4th Place: plaque, Franklin Merriam-Webster Dictionary and
Reference Set product
For the Final Event:
- 1st Place: trophy, scholarship valued at US $10,000
- 2nd Place: plaque, scholarship valued at US $2,000
- 3rd Place: plaque, scholarship valued at US $800
- 4th Place: plaque, scholarship valued at US $400
- 5th Place and lower: certificate, scholarship valued at US $100
All but the 5th place awards are wired to the winners after the New York event.
Contest Rules 2010
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