The spelling bee is a contest of orthography in which a word is spoken and the contestant has to spell it. The word, in this case, is from the English language. The popularity of spelling contests in the United States has always been very great.

In 2009 Franklin Electronic Publishers, in cooperation with TESOL, organized SpellEvent, the first global spelling competition for students who were learners of English as a foreign language outside the United States. There were four global spelling events, the first in 2009, the rest in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Argentina was invited to participate in all four competitions, and it was ARTESOL’s responsibility to contact the Argentine participating schools.

The competitions consisted of two stages in the first 3 years. First, a local event was held in each participating country, resulting in the selection of first- and second-place winners in 2009 and 2010 and of a first-place winner in 2011. Then, those winners traveled to New York City, where they participated in the final competition.

LOCAL EVENTS IN ARGENTINA

In 2009 there were 47 participants at the local event. They came from public and private schools from Buenos Aires and Mendoza (capital city of the Argentine province Mendoza). The first-place local winner wasClara Sofía Brunetto; later that same year she was thefirst-place winner at the 2009 Global Franklin SpellEventin New York City, August 9.

Then, in 2010 and 2011 45 students from public and private schools participated in the local spelling competition. They were from Buenos Aires and Resistencia (capital city of the Argentine province Chaco).

In 2012 the competition consisted of only one stage, the local event. Even though the first-place winner would not compete with participants from other countries in an international contest, so he or she would not have the possibility of traveling to New York City and probably being awarded a $10,000 scholarship, 47 students from five schools from Buenos Aires and Resistencia participated in the local event.

During these 4 years the ARTESOL Local SpellEvent Organizing Committee witnessed the strong commitment, interest, and enthusiasm shown both by the participants and by the teachers who coordinated their training at each school. Their serious work not only honored this educational event but proved to be worthy of ARTESOL’s deepest respect and gratitude.

Graciela Martin, ARTESOL president, is a graduate from the Instituto Nacional Superior de Profesorado “Joaquin V. González.” She has worked at ICANA for 21 years. She is the academic coordinator at ICANA Belgrano, the online courses project leader, and a materials developer.

Ana María Rocca, ARTESOL past president, is a public translator of English. She earned a Diploma Superior en Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) and is a researcher and teacher of English at the reading comprehension chair, School of Philosophy and Letters, Buenos Aires University, and at Secretaría de Extensión, Buenos Aires University.