nsc info booklet spelling

Information on

2010

NATIONAL SPELLING CHAMPIONSHIP(NSC)

RATIONALE The National Spelling Championship (NSC) aims to develop a greater appreciation of the importance of spelling in literacy development among Primary 4, 5 and 6 pupils in Singapore. The competition is designed to provide pupils with the opportunities to pit their spelling skills against one another by applying strategies to help them spell words both familiar and unfamiliar to them. In the process, pupils will gain an awareness of phonemes and syllabication while enriching their vocabulary through the study of prefixes, suffixes and root words. STRUCTURE

Zonal Preliminary Round

(Saturday 27 March 2010)

Zonal Championships

(Saturday 24 April 2010)

Grand Finals (Tuesday 1 June 2010)

National Spelling Championship Information Booklet 2 February 2010 2

Format of the Competition

ZONAL PRELIMINARY ROUND Participants are required to take a pen-and-paper test of about 60 minutes. Fifty words will be read aloud to the pupils by a Pronouncer. The pupils will have to spell the words on paper. Each word is contextualised with an example so that the meaning and form of the word are clearly understood. The top 10% of the participants will be invited to take part in the semi-finals.

ZONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS Participants will be invited to take their seats on the stage and they will take turns to spell aloud words read to them by a Pronouncer. Participants can ask relevant questions to help them with the spelling. (Please refer to Rules Section in these notes). A new word will be given to each participant to be spelled aloud each time. A participant who spells the word incorrectly or is unable to spell the given word within a time limit of 30 seconds will be eliminated. The words will become increasingly difficult with each new round such that fewer finalists will remain at the end each round (note that there is no fixed number of rounds at the Zonal Championships or the Grand Finals as this is dependent on the number of pupils eliminated at the end of each round). The elimination process will continue until the 2nd runner up, the 1st runner up and the Zonal Champion emerges.

GRAND FINALS The format of the Finals will be similar to that of the Zonals. The participants will be eliminated at each round of the competition until one speller emerges as the champion. The Zonal Champion Speller will be awarded a trophy, a certificate and a confirmed slot at the Grand Finals. The 1st and 2nd runners-up will also receive trophies and certificates. However, they will also be rank ordered with all the other finalists from the Zonal Championships. Only the top 15 spellers ranked nationwide will earn a chance to compete at the Grand Finals.


Possible Scenario at the Zonal Championships


Zonal-finalists

Pupils fail to spell the words correctly and are eliminated.

/

Remaining pupils spell the words

correctly and proceed to the next round.

Pupils fail to spell the words correctly and are eliminated.

/

Remaining pupils who produce the correct

spelling proceed to the next round.

Round 1

Round 2

The top 3 pupils left who produce the correct spelling will be the Zonal Champion,

1st and 2nd runners-up.

Round 3*

Rest of the pupils fail to spell the words correctly and

are eliminated.

/ The Zonal Champion automatically goes on to the Grand Finals. They are joined by 11 ranked finalists, making a total of 15 Grand Finalists.

*Please note that there is no fixed number of rounds at the Zonals or Grand Finals as this is dependent on the number of pupils eliminated at the end of each round.

Rules of the Competition Rules Details (A) Eligibility

Speller must meet these requirements

He/She must be a Primary 4, 5 or 6 pupil in any Primary School or Primary Section of a Full School.

He/She must be nominated by the school to participate in the Preliminary Round of the competition.

Once a pupil is disqualified at the Preliminary Round or at the Zonals of the competition, he/she remains disqualified for the subsequent rounds of the competition. That is, he/she will not be able to take part in the Zonals or the Grand Finals of the competition.

(B) Special Needs

The organising committee will strive to accommodate spellers with special physical needs involving sight, hearing, speech, or physical movement. The organising committee has the discretionary power to amend spelling requirements on a case-by-case basis for spellers with special diagnosed medical conditions involving sight, hearing, speech, or movement.

(C) Pronouncers Role

If a word has one or more homonyms, the

Pronouncer will indicate which word is to be spelled by defining the word.

The Pronouncer is required to strive to pronounce words according to the diacritical markings (for UK pronunciations) in the Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (EPD), 17th edition (2006).

The Pronouncer will respond to the spellers requests for the following:

I. Definition of the word II. Example in a sentence

III. Language of origin IV. Root word V. Alternative pronunciation (if there is any)


Rules Details (D) Judges Role

The judges will uphold the rules and determine whether the words are spelled correctly or not. Their decision is final in all the rounds of the competition.

Interaction with the speller:

The judges may request the spellers to face them when pronouncing and spelling the word.

Notice of rules:

The judges ensure that all spellers are given the complete copy of rules prior to the Zonals and the Grand Finals.

If the Pronouncer makes a mistake:

The judges will check the Pronouncers pronunciation with the diacritical markings in the word list. The judges may request the Pronouncer to correct the error as soon as it is detected.

Disqualifications for reasons other than clear spelling:

The judges will disqualify a speller in any of the following circumstances when he/she:

refuses to start spelling upon the Pronouncers request after the time limit has lapsed;

does not approach the microphone when it is time to receive a word;

displays unsportsmanlike behaviour; alters the letters or sequence of letters from those first

uttered in the process of retracing a spelling; utters unintelligible sounds in the process of spelling.


Interaction with the Pronouncer An Example An Example of a Word Read Out to a Participant During the Semi-finals or Finals of the National Spelling Championship. Pronouncer: Spell octogenarian. Do you have any questions? Participant:

Whats the language of origin?*

Pronouncer:

Latin

Participant:

Is there any root word?*

Pronouncer:

octo in octogenarian means eight

Participant:

Can I have the meaning of the word?

Pronouncer:

octogenarian refers to a person between 80 and 89 years old.

Participant:

Can I have an example in a sentence?*

Pronouncer:

The octogenarian just celebrated his 88th birthday with his family last evening. You have used all your questions.** Please spell octogenarian.

The timekeeper starts timing.

Participant:

(after 5 seconds) o-c-t-o-g-e-n-a-r-i-a-n, octogenarian***

One of the judges rings the bell upon correct spelling of the word.

Pronouncer

(Confirming judges decision) That is correct!

* Participants are NOT required to ask any questions. Questions can be asked in

any order. ** If the participant does not ask all 3 questions, the Pronouncer will check if there

is any question before proceeding to request that the participant spells the word. *** Participants need to say the word once after they have spelt it so as to inform the judge that they have completed their spelling of the word.


I. Definition of the word

nsc info booklet spelling

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