RULES AND REGULATIONS

SPELLING BEE COMPETITION

THE 24TH ALSA NATIONAL ENGLISH COMPETITION

PREFACE
Spelling Bee is a competition of spelling words in English, fast and precisely. In this
competition, participants must quickly spell English words spoken by the pronouncer. The
words will be derived from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The participant who is able to
spell the most words correctly in the shortest time will be the winner.

RELEVANT DATES
1. Technical Meeting : Friday, October 9th, 2020
2. Competition
a. Varsity : Saturday, October 10th, 2020
b. Senior High School : Sunday, October 11th, 2020
3. Closing Ceremony and Winner Announcement : Monday, October 12th, 2020

PARTICIPANTS
The participants consist of 30 (thirty) Senior High School participants and 30 (thirty)
varsity participants.

Each senior high school and university is allowed to send the maximum of 3 (three) delegates,
with the third delegate being put on the waiting list.

PURPOSES
The purposes of this competition are to train the attentiveness in listening to the words and
accuracy in spelling the words, enrich vocabularies and enhance their ability in writing and
pronouncing English words of the participants.
COMPETITION SEQUENCES
The competition consists of 3 (three) rounds and every round will be held online via Zoom
App
1. Round 1 (one): Preliminary Round
10 (ten) participants with the highest score will go to the semi-final round.
2. Round 2 (two): Semi-final Round
5 (five) participants with the highest score will go to the final round.
3. Round 3 (three): Final Round
The winners will directly be determined from the results of this round.

GENERAL RULES
1. Every participant in this competition must be a senior high school student or
university student.
2. The committee of ALSA E-Comp 2020 will not provide a refund for those who are
disqualified or quit for any reason.
3. The committee is entitled to unilaterally cancel a competition if the number of
participants does not reach the minimum quota as determined by the committee. The
minimum quota for each competition:
▪ Debate : 25 teams.
▪ MUN
- Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee : 25 delegates.
(SOCHUM)
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC): 25 delegates.
- United Nations Security Council (UNSC) : 15 delegates.
▪ Newscasting : 20 participants.
▪ Paper Presentation : 15 participants.
▪ Speech : 25 participants.
▪ Spelling Bee : 20 participants.
▪ Storytelling : 20 participants.
4. Every participant who has registered online MUST re-register themselves and attend
the Technical Meeting on Thursday, October 9th, 2020. Participants who failed to
follow this rule will be disqualified. There will be an exception only for those who are
 not able to come on the re-registration day by sending their permission for an absence
to the committee beforehand through Amanda (089621988105/ LINE ID:
amandaaurelie) for senior high school students or Mellynda (082274921105/ LINE ID:
mellynda12) for varsity students. The permission for absence must be due to personal
emergencies or reasons for which the committee found acceptable and it must be done
maximum 1 (one) day before the re-registration day.
5. The participants who have been registered online can be replaced with a new
participant before Thursday, September 24th, 2020 or precisely 7 (seven) days after
the registration ends by sending the request of replacement to ALSA E-Comp 2020.
Registration’s e-mail address: [email protected], with the following format
subject: Replacement_(Competition Type)_(Institution) and the following format body
mail:
a. Competition Type :
b. Institution :
c. Name of Original Participant :
d. Name of Replacement Participant :
e. Name for Certificate (20 characters tops :
including punctuation marks)
f. Reason :
The participant is required to attach any kind of related document that supports the
participant’s reason (e.g. signed medical permit from the hospital). If the committee
finds the reason as an acceptable reason, then the committee will send the approval of
the replacement request to the participant’s e-mail address.
6. After Thursday, September 24th, 2020 replacement of participants is not allowed and
will result in disqualification.
7. The names registered on the website or the name of the replacement participant
registered on the ALSA E-Comp 2020 Registration’s e-mail will be the names printed
on the certificates with the limit of 20 characters for each name. The committee is not
responsible for mistakes and misspelling made by the participant in the registration
form.
8. Every rule must be followed. Disqualification for any participant who violates the
rule will be under the discretion of the committee to decide unilaterally.
 9. The certificate of participation for every participant will be sent through e-mail in the
form of an e-certificate. The committee will ONLY send the certificate for the
participants whose names are on the attendance list of the closing ceremony on Monday,
October 12th, 2020.
10. The trophy for the winners will be sent to the winners’ address via shipment. The
shipping cost will be borne by the winners. The prize will be transferred to the winners’
bank account.

TECHNICAL MEETING
1. Every participant or representative MUST attend the Technical Meeting on Friday,
October 9th, 2020.
2. The Technical Meeting will be the platform for discussion about the rules to which the
competition will be based upon.
3. The committee holds the ultimate control towards deciding whether a rule needs to be
changed or not.
4. Results of the Technical Meeting are considered accepted and legitimate by the
participants and no objection later will be accepted by the committee.
5. The participant and/or representative who are not able to attend the Technical Meeting
due to personal emergencies or for any reason will be considered in favor with all the
results of the Technical Meeting’s discussion, no objection will be accepted by the
committee.

ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible to compete, competing individual must:
1. Be enrolled legitimately in a Senior High School or a University by showing the
committee a legitimate Student Identity Card at the time of re-registration.
2. Have completed the payment of the registration fee and was successfully registered as
a participant.
3. Note all relevant dates regarding the competition as mentioned in the RELEVANT
DATES section.
4. Maintain eligibility at all rounds of the competition. The participant will be disqualified
if discovered ineligible to compete in any round.
 5. Each participant must be present to compete and cannot be represented by anything else
other than themselves.

DRESS CODE
1. The participants must keep their appearance neat and clean.
2. Senior High School students are required to wear their school uniform unless stated
otherwise in the specific rules and regulations for every competition and/or explained
and allowed by the committee.
3. Varsity students are required to wear a collared shirt, with their respective university
jacket unless stated otherwise in the specific rules and regulations for every competition
or explained and allowed by the committee.

RULES DURING THE COMPETITION

1. The competition will be held online via Zoom App, therefore participants should make
sure that the supporting equipment and devices are available (Laptop/PC with a
functioning camera and speaker, microphone, and internet connection). The equipment
needed will not be provided by the committee. With that, participants should provide
them independently.
2. During the competition, the committee will mute the microphone of all the participants.
Participants are only allowed to unmute the microphone when performing and talking.
3. Participants should change their name on the Meeting Room into (Name)_(Type of
Competition)_(Institution). (e.g. Grace_Speech_UI)
4. To make sure all participants are audible before the competitions start, there will be a
microphone checking session.
5. If the participants are caught cheating, the committee is entitled to unilaterally decide
to disqualify participants from the competition.
6. During the competitions, the registered participants cannot be represented by anyone
else, or otherwise will be disqualified.
7. All participants should respect and appreciate every judgement from the judges.
8. The judges' decisions are final and there is no correspondence pertaining to the judging
process will be reconsidered.
 9. When the participants make mistakes when performing, the committee does not
compromise and/or allow any pauses of duration nor provide any restart for the
participants.
10. If there are technical difficulties (such as any errors in microphones/speakers or
troubled internet connection) or should any problems arise during the performance of
the participants, to which is no fault of the participants, then the committee might allow
a restart with the discretion of the committee with the approval of the judges.
11. Every participant should be present punctually, at least 15 (fifteen) minutes before the
competition starts. We do not compromise any tardiness. If the participant is late to be
present, then the committee will decide unilaterally to either postpone the performance
or disqualify the participants from the competition.

SPECIFIC RULES
1. The words given are based on the Merriam-Webster dictionary. We will not give
out a word list to the participants.
2. All cell phones must be switched off during the competition.
3. Participants have to wear an earphone/ headset during the competition.
4. Before the competition begins, participants have to make sure that they are clear from
any cheat sheet by showing their hands up to the camera.
5. Participants have to make an eye contact to the camera while spelling the words
given.
6. The competition is held via Zoom App. Therefore, all participants must enter the
Meeting Room 15 (fifteen) minutes before the competition begins.
7. Participants are not allowed to:
a. Open any kind of dictionary, electronic included, when the competition is
being held;
b. Receive any help from anyone including spectators and/or supporters;
c. Have any contact with the judges;
d. Ask the committee about restricted things regarding the competition; and
e. Any violation of the requirements above will result in disqualification.
8. Judges may disqualify any speller who ignores a request to start spelling.
9. The speller must not exceed the time frame given for him or her to start spelling.
10. Having started to spell a word, a speller may stop and start over, retracing the spelling
 from the beginning, but in retracing there can be NO change of letters or their
sequence from those first pronounced. If letters or their sequence is changed in the
respelling, the speller will be eliminated.
11. If a word has one or more homonyms, the pronouncer will indicate which word is to
be spelled. If the listed word is not properly identified, either by defining it or using
it in a sentence, any correct spelling of any homonym of the word will be accepted.
12. Protests may be filed by anyone (the speller, parent, teacher, etc.) wishing to reinstate
a speller into the contest but will not be heard from any individual seeking to dislodge
another speller from the competition.
13. Deadline for filing a protest is before the speller affected would have received his/
her word and he/she stayed in the contest. NO PROTEST will be listened after that
word has been given to another speller.
14. Protests should be verbally made to a designated person immediately or upon
completion of a round. It is especially important to speak up right away when there
are only two or three spellers left.
15. The committee and judges are in complete control of the competition. Their decisions
are final.
16. The participants must wear formal attires (e.g. collared shirt and pants) and keep
his/her appearance neat and clean.
a. Varsity students are required to wear collared shirt, with their respective
university jacket and shoes.
b. Senior High School students must wear formal attires (e.g. collared shirt and
pants).
17. During the competition, each participant must open up their front camera, use
earphones or headsets and mute their microphone
18. Please keep the lighting of your room bright enough for the judges, the committees,
and other participants to see each other clearly.

MATCHES ROUND
ROUND 1 (ONE): PRELIMINARY ROUND
1. Each participant must write down the right spelling for the words pronounced by the
pronouncer and the participant is not allowed to ask the definition of the word.
 2. The participants will need to bring a black pen (because the committee will not be
providing any). This is to test the listening and spelling skills of the participants.
3. There is no reduction point for this round.
4. Each correct answer will be worth 1 (one) point. In total, participants must write
down 50 (fifty) words to gather 50 (fifty) points.
5. Participants will be given 10 (ten) seconds to write down their answer for every
question.
6. ONLY in First Round of the competition:
a) All the participants will write their answer on a lined paper and then show their
answers to the camera after the times up.
b) Pronouncer will spell all the words from the list; by then, all the participants
are required to fill out the words spelled by the pronouncer.
c) All of the words MUST be written in capital letters.
d) The pronouncer will repeat each word twice to give a chance for participants to
hear the given word more than once.
e) If a participant misspells a word and intends on correcting it, the participant
may do so by simply crossing out the previous spelling and write the correct
spelling.
f) Each of the participants will be scored by the number of their correct answers.

ROUND 2 (TWO): SEMI-FINAL ROUND

1. All 10 (ten) participants will be divided into 2 (two) groups of 5 (five) and each group
will enter the Meeting Room. During the contest, each participant will have to spell
out 10 (ten) words given by the pronouncer. Participants are not allowed to hold any
writing tools and paper. Each participant will be given 30 (thirty) seconds to think
and spell each word.
Time (second) Points gained

0-5 10

6- 10 8

11 – 20 5

21 – 30 3
 > 30 0

2. The time will be started after the pronouncer responds to the speller’s requests for the
question and/or answer options to be repeated.
3. Participants who spell all the words correctly in the fastest range of time will get 100
(one hundred) points. 5 (five) participants with the highest score will proceed to the final
round.
4. There is no point reduction.
5. ONLY in the Second Round of the competition:
a. Participants are allowed to ask the pronouncer to repeat the given word one more
time.
b. Participants may ask for the definition of the word or the example of the word used
in a sentence.
c. The judges may not disqualify a speller for failing to pronounce the word either
before or after spelling it.
d. The pronouncer will be assured that the speller has heard the word correctly if he or
she pronounces it before beginning to spell it.
e. The judges will know that the speller is done if the contestant pronounces the word
after spelling it.

ROUND 3 (THREE): FINAL ROUND

1. All 5 (five) participants will be asked to spell the words given perfectly within a 30
(thirty) seconds time frame. If the first participant is unable to spell the word correctly
while the other participant can, the one who spelled correctly will get the point and the
one who failed to spell correctly will be disqualified.
2. Participants are allowed to ask the pronouncer to repeat the given word one more time,
but will no longer be allowed to ask for the definition of the word or the example of the
word used in a sentence.
3. In the case where all participants are unable to spell the word correctly, the competition
will continue to the next round in which the pronouncer will give all participants new
words to spell.
4. The last participant standing will be the winner of the round.
5. ONLY in the Third Round:
 a. If one speller misspells a word, the next speller will be given an opportunity to
spell that same word (the order of which speller gets the chance to spell next is
according to the speller’s number that is given at the re-registration on the final
round of the competition). The next speller in line will be chosen randomly by
the pronouncer.
b. If the person after the next speller spells that word correctly, the speller who
initially was given the word but misspelled it, will be disqualified.

RULES ON ZOOM APP

1. Each participant must be present at least 15 (fifteen) minutes before the competition
begins. We do not compromise any of the tardiness.
2. Each participant must make sure that their internet connection is stable and the camera
is turned on during the competition.
3. Every participant must make sure that their appearance when performing can be seen
and heard clearly by the judges.
4. Participants must show their faces and half of their bodies in their video.
5. Participants are allowed to edit their performance video based on what they think is
necessary.
6. There are no specific rules for the background of the video as long as it is free from
moving objects (such as people, vehicles, pets, etc).
7. There are no specific rules regarding the quality of the video as long as it shows the
face and body clearly.
8. If there are technical difficulties (such as any errors in microphones/speakers or
troubled internet connection) or should any problems arise during the performance of
the participants, to which is no fault of the participants, then the committee might allow
a restart with the discretion of the committee with the approval of the judges.

These rules apply to all participants of this Spelling Bee competition of The 24th ALSA
National English Competition. These rules may not be supplanted or modified except by the
authorized committee. All participants are obligated to obey the rules.
CONTACT PERSONS
Diana Desiree (081382012494 / LINE ID: desireediana)
Binanda Afia Millenia (081290565960 / LINE ID: binandaafia)
E-mail: [email protected]