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

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.

National Spelling Championship Information Booklet 2 February 2010

Possible Scenario at the Zonal Championships

Zonal-finalists

Round 1

Pupils fail to spell

the words correctly
and are eliminated.

Remaining pupils spell the words

correctly and proceed to the next round.

Round 2
Pupils fail to spell
the words correctly
and are eliminated.

Remaining pupils who

produce the correct
spelling proceed to the next
round.

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.
National Spelling Championship Information Booklet 2 February 2010

Rules of the Competition

Rules
(A) Eligibility

Details
Speller must meet these requirements

(B) Special
Needs

(C) Pronouncers
Role

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.

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.

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.
II.
III.
IV.
V.

Definition of the word

Example in a sentence
Language of origin
Root word
Alternative pronunciation (if there is any)

National Spelling Championship Information Booklet 2 February 2010

Rules
(D) Judges Role

Details
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.

National Spelling Championship Information Booklet 2 February 2010

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.
(Confirming judges decision)

Pronouncer

*
**
***

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.

National Spelling Championship Information Booklet 2 February 2010