Spelling Bee Still a Big Deal

Arvind Mahankali, a 13-year-old from Bayside Hills, New York, successfully spelled the word knaidel to win the 86^th Scripps National Spelling Bee last month. Arvind won a $30,000 cash prize and a $2500 savings bond. This was Mahankali’s fourth time competing in the Bee; he finished in third place in both 2011 and 2012. The nationally televised event is held each year in Washington, D.C. and is covered by the cable sports network, ESPN. There were 281 spellers this year, representing all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, seven foreign countries, and students attending Department of Defense schools in Europe were also eligible and participated. They ranged in age from 8 to 14.

History of the Bee 

The first National Spelling Bee was held in 1925 in Louisville, Kentucky. The newspaper, the Courier-Journal sponsored the competition, until the E.W. Scripps company acquired the rights. In order to compete, a speller must obtain a sponsor, usually a local newspaper that holds its own spelling contest. In order to complete in the national Bee, a speller must win a regional competition, which usually cover many counties or, sometimes, a whole state.

There are five official rounds of competition in the National Spelling Bee. The first is a written round, made up of 50 words. Spellers listen to a recording of each word and then write down their answers. Round two and three are considered preliminaries. Round four is a computerized semifinals test, similar to that in round one. Rounds five and six have been broadcast live on television for the past several years.

The words used in the Bee are decided upon by a committee whose identities are kept a secret. From the time a word is pronounced, the speller has two minutes to spell it completely. During this time, he or she may ask the pronouncer for

• the definition,
• the part of speech,
• the language of origin,
• the root of the word, and
• to have it used in a sentence.

Does Spelling Still Matter?

Despite all the fanfare for the National Spelling Bee, there is some debate over the value of spelling in a culture thatis using more and more casual instant communication, that relies on computers and spell-check, and also features mobile phone auto-correct. Traditional academics fear a more casual language, appropriate for social media, is creeping into our classrooms.

At this year’s National Spelling Bee, contestants were required to take a vocabulary test for the first time. The test was added to help reinforce the mission of the Bee, which is to help students not only improve their spelling, but to increase their vocabulary and develop correct usage of the English language. Research shows that good spelling improves reading and writing, skills that are essential to higher education. Business professionals argue that good spelling is also a sign of credibility. Resumes and business letters littered with errors are not likely to get a positive response.

Related Links

• There has been a slight bit of controversy surrounding the spelling of knaidel.

Dig Deeper–Watch the 2002 documentary, Spellbound, that follows 8 contestants of the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Did you pick someone to root for? Why or why not? Could you relate to any of the participants? Why or why not? How do you think you would do in a spelling bee?