Franklin Global SpellEvent

Contest Rules 2011

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 Fifteen countries will participate in the 2011 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 place winner. Second, this winner will travel to the U.S. for the final event in New York City in August 2011, 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, 2010 (i.e., the Participant must not have been born before January 1, 1996). 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 of or dual-citizen of any English-speaking country. Specifically, Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, United States, United Kingdom, or any other country where English is an official language. 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 two classes (outside of the language class) be in English. i) A Participant must not be a 1st or 2nd place winner of a previous local event. j) A Participant must not be a winner of any other spelling competition that includes a trip to the United States as a result.

11/11/2010

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 Participants 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 place finisher at a local event, or in the event he/she cant attend, a 2nd 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). This must be done immediately following the local event to avoid any possible delays. 3. Source of Words All Spelling words for the local and final event will come from MerriamWebsters Advanced Learners 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-Websters 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. The SpellEvent practice word list which contains 175 words from the source Merriam-Webster Advanced Learners English Dictionary. This list is provided to assist in the studying and learning of the English Language. The list is 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 50 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 Participants 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 begin 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 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 2011 for Participant and one parent or legal guardian 2nd Place: 2nd place trophy, Franklin Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary Model SCD-2100 product 3rd and 4th Place: plaque, Franklin Merriam-Webster Dictionary model MWD-1500 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.

In cooperation with

Franklin Global SpellEvent 2010

Overview

Franklin Electronic Publishers in cooperation with TESOL announces the second annual Franklin Global SpellEvent Championship for EFL (English as Foreign Language) students, ages 15 years old and younger. 12 Countries will participate in the local events. Participating countries for 2010 are: Argentina, Chile, China, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Senegal, South Korea, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. The first and second place finishers of these *winners will be invited to New York City for the Championship SpellEvent to be held in August 2010. (*Franklin will provide travel for both students and (1) one parent or legal guardian per student). For over 100 years. Spelling competitions have been a tradition at schools for students of all ages to improve their English skills in the United States.
Local participating Schools will receive:
4 Franklin MWD-460A electronic Dictionaries 4 Merriam Websters Advanced Learners Dictionary Franklin Global SpellEvent brochures
Local winning students will receive:
All expenses paid trip to U.S. to compete in the final rounds All expenses paid trip for (1) one parent or guardian per student Franklin/Merriam Websters Electronic Collegiate Dictionary Eligible to win $10,000 scholarship Local TESOL Affiliates, with the assistance of Franklin, will be responsible for coordination local preliminary events. Local rounds will consist of a single elimination spelling competition until 2 Students remain. It is recommended that local events be held by May 31, 2010. To allow time for travel arrangements.
In the event either of the 2 winners cannot attend the finals in New York City: the 3rd and 4th place finisher will be selected as an alternate representative. The four finalists at the local event will all receive Franklin products as prizes.
Local preliminary rounds will be conducted entirely in English. Local TESOL affiliates will provide:
One person designated as the pronouncer One person fluent in English who will serve as the MC (Master of Ceremonies) for the event. Adequate facilities to conduct the local competition Stage, microphones, speakers, chairs, tables to accommodate the local event
Local preliminary rounds must be limited to a maximum of 48 participants.
175 Practice words will be provided on the spellevent.org site on or about November 15, 2009 First round will be the practice round at the local event. Each student will have the opportunity to spell a word provided by the pronouncer. This will assist in helping each participant to better understand the format of the event. The local events will be single elimination format. 1st and 2nd place finishers will win the right to compete in New York City in August 2010.

Spelling Rules

The Pronouncer will say the word. At this point the student must repeat the word correctly back to the Pronouncer to ensure that they understand the word. The Pronouncer will have the discretion to continue to prompt the student to pronounce the word correctly until they are satisfied that the student understands the word completely.

At no point will the student be given the option to use pen/pencil and paper as an aid to deciphering the spelling of a word.
Once the Pronouncer is satisfied that the student understands the word, the student may ask for the following: Any alternate pronunciations of the word The definition-including part of speech, as found in the Merriam-Websters Advanced Learners Dictionary To have the word used in a sentence
After a student has exhausted all of their options they will be asked to spell the word within the allowed time frame as provided in the SpellEvent rules. Once a student begins to spell a word they may not: Stop and start over-this will constitute a misspelling if they change the spelling in the process Ask for more time or further information
After the student has spelled the word: The judges will determine whether the word was spelled correctly. All of the Judges decisions are final. If the word was spelled correctly they will be advised that it is correct by the pronouncer. If the word was spelled incorrectly they will be informed by the ringing of the bell, the correct spelling will then be provided by the pronouncer.

Suggestions:

Hold rehearsal Spelling Competitions to acclimate the Students and Teachers with how the competition will transpire. Begin building awareness early and often. Remind the students often that travel to the U.S. will be required to participate in the final round.