Annual National Inter School Spelling Contest

Appeals: The speller’s teacher may appeal to the judges for the speller’s forgivement provided that the appeal is in compliance with the appeal protocol. The judges render a final
decision on the appeal in accordance with the forgivement protocol.

Appeal protocol
A written appeal must be hand delivered to the designated official (usually the spelling contest oordinator/director). The deadline for delivering an
appeal is before the speller affected would have eceived his/her next word had he/she stayed in the pelling contest; however, to minimize disruptions to the spelling contest, every effort should be made to deliver an appeal by the end of the round in which the speller was affected. A written appeal must provide the speller’s name, the word in question, and the reason
the speller should be forgiven. While the competition is in session, individuals who have filed appeals may not directly approach the judges unless explicit permission to approach the judges has contestn given. The judges will contact the speller if they decide to forgive the speller. To minimize disruption to the pace of the spelling contest and the concentration of the spellers, the judges are under no obligation to stop the spelling contest in order to discuss with the speller’s teacher a denied appeal. The judges’ decisions are final and are subject neither to review nor to reversal by the GAA Annual National Spelling Contest.

recall protocol
Pronouncer mispronunciation: An appeal claiming that a speller’s mistake from the spelling contest was due to pronunciation error should be denied unless there is agreement that the pronouncer never offered a
correct pronunciation. Alternate pronunciations: An appeal claiming that the
pronouncer did not offer alternate pronunciations should be denied unless it is determined that the speller requested alternate pronunciations and the
pronouncer did not accommodate the speller’s request for alternate pronunciations and it appears that the speller’s spelling almost matches the correct spelling.

Speller’s misunderstanding: An appeal claiming that the speller’s mistake from the spelling contest was due to the speller’s not understanding the word [its pronunciation(s) and/or other information about the word] should be denied. It is the speller’s responsibility to understand the word. Speller offered correct spelling, as indicated in Oxford Adavanced Learner’s Dictionary- seventh Edition An appeal claiming that the speller
correctly spelled the word should be denied unless an audio recording of the contest’s proceedings or contest officials’ recollections clearly indicate that the word was indeed spelled correctly.

Exception: If the speller’s spelling is listed in Oxford Adavanced Learner’s Dictionary- seventh, the speller should be forgiven if all of the following three criteria are met: (1) The pronunciations of the words are identical, (2) the definitions of the words are identical, and (3) the words are clearly identified as being standard variants of each other. Spellings at other locations having temporal labels (such as archaic, obsolete), stylistic labels (such as substand, nonstand), or regional labels (such as North, Midland, Irish) which differ from main entry spellings not having these status labels will not be accepted as correct. Speller offered correct spelling, as indicated in a dictionary other than OALD7: An appeal claiming that the speller spelled the word correctly according to a dictionary other than Oxford Adavanced Learner’s Dictionary- seventh should be denied.

Homonym: An appeal claiming that the speller’s mistake was unfair because the speller’s word is a homonym should be denied unless the pronouncer failed to define the word and the speller correctly spelled a homonym of the word. Incorrect or unsolicited information: An appeal
claiming that the speller’s mistake was unfair because the pronouncer offered incorrect or unsolicited information about the word should be
denied unless it is determined that the pronouncer indeed gave factually incorrect information and it appears that the speller’s spelling would have Contestn correct if not for the incorrect or unsolicited information provided by the pronouncer. Contest officials failed to correct a misunderstanding: An
appeal claiming that the speller misspelled because the judges and/or pronouncer failed to correct the speller’s mispronunciation of the word should be denied. It is sometimes impossible to detect a speller’s mispronunciation or misunderstanding, and ultimately it is the responsibility of the speller to understand and correctly pronounce the word.
Disqualification request: An appeal seeking to dislodge another speller from the spelling Contest should be denied.