Follow NWPE on:
Subscribe to RSS Feed:
| Spelling Bees in Today’s World? |
| posted by: Cindy Omlin | June 03, 2011, 10:43 PM |
|
Last night, an eighth-grader from Pennsylvania, 14-year-old Sukanya Roy, was crowned the 2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee champion after an unprecedented night of drama. In the final moments, just five competitors were left, and it appeared none of them would ever miss as they went on an unprecedented 21-word streak. Miss Roy ultimately took it home, winning in the 20th round after correctly spelling "cymotrichous," a word for "having wavy hair." While the competition is often exciting and provides scholarships for children, many in the blogosphere have questioned the merit of such a contest in today's technology-driven world. The finalists went through a process that included written tests on Tuesday and two oral rounds on Wednesday that reduced the field for the semifinals, moving 13 students to the finals. The winner is set to receive $40,000 in scholarships and cash. While all of the children are obviously intelligent–in introducing one 12-year-old the ESPN announcer remarked he had been "reading novels since age 2"–many have criticized the competition as promoting an obsolete skill. "Even our smartphones are now capable of correcting our spelling, and contemporary spelling conventions offer wide latitude in expression. A legitimate conversation today might consist of this jumble of characters: Sup? Nm, u? K, gtg, ttyl," highlighted one blogger. "Ever heard of spell-check", cited another commentator. While it may seem silly for some to spend time going through a dictionary in their spare time, education experts often cite the skill of spelling as more than just memorization. Spelling can connect us to history and culture, to science, poetry, and even mathematics. One spelling bee veteran walked through the many levels of knowledge in one word. "I was once given the word S-I-L-I-C-I-F-E-R-O-U-S in a spelling bee. I'd never heard the word before. I asked for the definition. Containing silicon. I asked for the etymology. Latin. I asked for the part of speech. Adjective. With this information, I was able to construct the word in its entirety. I knew about silicon, and thus had the S-I-L-I-C-I beginning. The Latin root told me that the middle part of the word would be F-E-R rather than P-H-O-R and the fact that it was an adjective, not a noun, told me that the word ended in O-U-S rather than U-S. Siliciferous." Now that is eye-opening. While we can often be sucked into pop culture slang and "text-speak", clearly the art of spelling and the English language has merit in almost every academic discipline. It also makes for great T.V. – and how could anyone be upset by an eighth-grade genius getting money for college? Do you think spelling is a dying art in today's tech-driven world? Comment below. Originally posted by Alix at AAE.
email to friend
Print
comment
Permalink
Comments (0)
 You must be logged in to post a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.
|
