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Specific Rules for National Vocabulary Bee Finals

1. There are 3 levels of competition for Vocabulary Bee:
   • Junior Vocabulary Bee (JVB): Grades 1, 2 and 3
   • Intermediate Vocabulary Bee (IVB): Grades 4, 5, 6 and 7
   • Senior Vocabulary Bee (SVB): Grades 8, 9, 10 and 11
2. A 1st rank winner at the National Finals of the North South Foundation Senior Vocabulary contest is not eligible for competing in this and future vocabulary contests conducted by the Foundation (National winners of junior vocabulary bee can participate in the intermediate or senior vocabulary bee. Similarly national winners of intermediate vocabulary bee can participate in the senior vocabulary bee.) A contestant who participated in a higher level bee cannot participate in a lower level bee in subsequent years.
3. Vocabulary bees (JVB, IVB and SVB) are held in three phases: Phase I (written) and Phase II and Phase III (oral format). Contestants will always be seated according to their badge numbers. No parents are allowed in Phase I.
4. The vocabulary contest will be conducted in multiple-choice format. In vocabulary contests, pronouncers will pronounce words and provide multiple-choices in all phases.
Phase I (Written):
5. Phase I is a written test with 25 words. Fifteen words will be selected from the published list and the remaining ten words will be from external sources. Each contestant will be given the same 25 words.
6. The contestants will be a given sheet with 25 words along with multiple choices for each word. For each word, the contestant has to circle the most appropriate meaning from the list of multiple choices given. To aid the contestant, the pronouncer will pronounce the word, provide part of speech (POS), and read the multiple choices for each of the 25 words.
7. Unclear and illegible writing might be open for misinterpretation. So contestants are expected to write clearly and legibly. The decision of the judges is final.
8. There will NOT be any partial credits. There will be NO negative points for any incorrect answer. The contestant will be awarded one point for the correct answer and zero for an incorrect answer.
9. All Phase I sheets should be returned at the end of the contest.
10. All contestants will advance to Phase II. Contestants will be divided into groups of about 20, and each group will be seated in separate rooms. Badges will reflect the group number.
Phase II (Oral):
11. There will be 3 oral rounds in Phase II. All words in Phase II come from the published list. In each round, each contestant will get one word.
12. During this phase, the pronouncer will provide a word along with the corresponding multiple choices. The contestant may request ONLY the part of speech. The contestant will pronounce the word along with his/her selected answer from the multiple choices.
13. If a contestant gives an incorrect answer, the judges provide the correct answer. The next contestant will be given a new word from the list.
14. The contestant is allowed 30 seconds to provide his/her choice of the answer. The judges may award zero points to any contestant who ignores a request to start giving an answer.
15. The contestant will be awarded one point for the correct answer and zero for an incorrect answer.
Phase III (Oral):
16. Based on the cumulative scores of Phase I & II, the judges will determine a list of top 10 finalists who will advance to Phase III. Because of ties, the judges may allow a slightly higher or lower number depending on the circumstances. The decision of the judges is final in this regard. All the contestants who are selected for Phase III will all assemble in one room. This is an elimination phase. The words in this phase are selected from external sources.
17. All rules for Phase II will be followed in Phase III also, except, if the answer provided by the contestant is incorrect, the contestant will be eliminated. Contestants who provide the correct answer will advance to the next round. If no contestant answers correctly in a round, all contestants remain and advance to the next round. Contestants eliminated in the same round shall be tied for the same place, unless the judges decide to hold a tie-breaker (especially for the 1st, 2nd and/or 3rd place.)
Winners and Rank-by-Grades:
18. The First, Second and Third place winners will be decided based on multiple elimination rounds in Phase III. The first place winner shall be ahead by at least one point to be declared as the champion. If any of these positions remain tied after a maximum of 20 rounds in Phase III, joint winners will be declared for the particular position. In that case, the award funds will be pooled and distributed among the joint winners.
19. This year, the Foundation will recognize top ranks by grade. The number of ranks is contingent upon the number of contestants per grade that actually compete on the day of the Final. For contestants ≥ 20 from a given grade, ranks 1-5 by grade will be announced. If there are ≤ 20 contestants from a given grade, a lower number of grade-based ranks will be announced. If there is a tie for a given rank for a given grade, the date of birth will be used to break the tie. (A younger contestant will be awarded the rank).
20. The grade-by-recognition will include a trophy and a certificate.
Tiebreaker Rules:
21. The Foundation reserves the right to conduct a tie-breaker and/or announce joint winners or declare winners based on criteria that it deems fit to end the contest in a timely manner.

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