Pasadena District Foreign Language Academic Competition
I. General Information
A. Enrollment
1. Students, grades nine to twelve, are eligible to participate in the competition.
2. Students must be currently enrolled in a course in the school in the language in which they are competing.
3. Students must compete on their level of study or higher.
B. Judges
Teachers are encouraged to submit names of potential judges to your school’s contest committee members. Please use the form in this packet for submitting names. Teachers may also volunteer to judge events – where possible, teachers will not be used to judge their own students.
E. Hospitality
Hospitality Committee will provide food and snacks for all judges and PDFLAC volunteers.
F. Student Behavior
1. Students are to use the stairs unless physically challenged.
2. Food should remain in the cafeteria area.
3. Students should be quiet and orderly in contest areas.
4. Students must make sure that they clean up after themselves.
5. Students should cooperate with all adults instantly.
6. Students should dress professionally or they may wear the competition t-shirt with slacks/modest skirts. NO JEANS allowed.
G. Levels of Competition
1. Spanish: I, II, NS I*, NS II*, III, IV, V. (Total: 7)
2. French: I, II, III, IV (Total: 4)
3. German: I, II, and Advanced Levels combined (Total: 3)
*Spanish Only
If a native speaker student is enrolled in a regular Spanish I or II class, he/she must compete with the native speakers of that level.
H. Ratings Sheets
1. Sample ratings sheets are available on the website, and teachers should ensure their students receive one for each event in which they are competing so that they know the judging criteria.
I. Materials
1. Rules and suggestions for preparation for all events are available on the website. Teachers, judges and contestants may access these. In addition, judges will be given hardcopies of the materials pertaining to their event on the morning of the competition.
2. Only the competitors in vocal music (solo and group) need to bring performance materials for the competition. They must submit TWO copies of their song to the judges with their name and ID number, and their school name written on the piece.
J. Nametags
1. Nametags will be provided at the time of morning registration.
2. Participating students must wear their nametag at all times.
K. Trophies/Medals
1. There will be an awards ceremony immediately after the competition.
2. We encourage all students to attend the awards ceremony. If you choose not to attend, the award will be sent to your campus.
3. First, second, and third places in all events will receive medals.
4. Competition points will be awarded to individual schools as follows:
First place: 3 points
Second place: 2 points
Third place: 1 point
An Overall Award will be presented to the school receiving the highest number of points.
II. Event Rules
A. Entry Limits
All listings are per level, per language and per school unless otherwise stated
Spelling Bee Limit: 5 participants (Level I only)
Sentence Scramble Limit: 2 teams (4 students each) (Levels I and II).
Guided Speaking Limit: 6 students (Levels I and II)
Poetry Limit: 6 students (All levels)
Language Test Limit: 7 students (All levels)
Sight Reading Limit: 6 students (Levels ISS, IISS II, III, IV and V)
Skit Limit: 3 groups (4-5 students) (Levels I, ISS, II, IISS,
and Advanced)
Extemporaneous speaking Limit: 6 students (Levels ISS, IISS, III, IV and V)
Art Limit: 15 entries per school
Vocal Solo / Group Limit: 9 entries per language per school
B. Judging Criteria
1. The judges’ decisions are final and may not be challenged.
2. Judging criteria will be based on meritorious performance with awards given on that basis when standards are met. For example, a category in which only one student enters might be awarded an honorable mention rather than a first place if the performance is not meritorious.
3. See individual ranking sheets for specific point values.
4. The judges carry out their responsibilities in good faith and should be respected.
5. Challenging a judge’s decision, berating a judge, or impugning his/her honesty and impartiality is considered unprofessional and will not be tolerated.
C. Spelling Bee (Level I only – Non-Native Speakers)
1. Each school can send 5 participants and two alternates. We recommend that each school hold a campus level spelling bee in order to select their participants. An alternate can compete in the event that one of the 5 participants is not able to compete on the day of the competition.
2. All the words used for the spelling competition will be taken from the level I vocabulary lists provided by the PDFLAC committee. In the event that additional words are needed, they will be randomly selected from a committee approved list of supplemental vocabulary.
3. The competition will be conducted in the following manner:
a. The Pronouncer will say the word, use it in a sentence, then say the word again. The contestant may ask for one repeat. Students will have no more than 20 seconds from the time the Pronouncer gives the word to begin spelling.
b. The contestant can write the word down on a small dry erase board if he/she wishes. The judges and the public will not see what has been written. It is only to help the contestant visualize the word before spelling it orally. The student can see the written word as he/she spells it orally.
c. After beginning to spell a word, the contestant can stop and start over, retracing the spelling from the beginning, but in retracing there can be no change of letters or their sequence from those first pronounced. If letters or their sequence is changed, the contestant will be eliminated.
d. The oral spelling should be correct and complete. Special marks must be included (i.e., accents, diérisis {ü}, capital letters, etc). Such marks must be included as the word is being spelled out, not after the word is spelled. If the student fails to include correct special marks, the word will be considered incorrect.
e. A contestant may not be disqualified for failing to pronounce the word either before or after spelling it.
f. Any question or objection concerning the spelling of a word should be immediately brought to the attention of the Spelling Bee Coordinator by an official campus representative. The judges will render the final decision. Participants are not allowed to challenge the judges’ decision. The objection must be made before the next contestant receives his/her word. No appeal will be entertained after that word has been given to another speller.
g. The judges are in full control of the competition. Their decision is final, except in case of a serious error. In such a case, the Pronouncer will intervene and along with the judges will make a final decision.
4. When the contestants are reduced to two, the elimination procedure changes:
a. When one contestant misspells a word, the other contestant shall be given an opportunity to spell that same word. If the second contestant spells that word correctly, plus the next word on the pronouncer’s list, then the second contestant shall be declared the champion.
b. If one of the last two spellers misses and the other, after correcting the error, misspells the new word submitted to him/her, then the misspelled new word shall be referred to the first speller. If the first speller then succeeds in correcting the error and correctly spells the next word on the pronouncer’s list, then he/ she shall be declared the champion.
c. If both spellers misspell the same word, both shall continue in the contest, and the one who first misspelled the word shall be given a new word to spell. The competition will continue in this manner following the regulations in 4a. and 4b. of this section.
d. Time tie-breaker. If more than one contestant remains after 50 minutes, the tie will be broken by a series of dictated sentences. The Pronouncer will say each sentence twice and the students will write it on a supplied sheet of paper. Any errors of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation will make the sentence incorrect.
5. When spelling a word orally, the following Spanish letters should be clarified:
a. the “b” will be called “b grande” or “b larga”
b. the “v” will be called “v chica” or “v corta”
c. the “rr” will be called “ere, ere” or “doble ere”
d. the “ll” will be called “ele, ele” or “doble ele”
e. the “y” will be called “i griega” or “ye”
f. the “ch” will be called “ce, hache”
g. the “ñ” will be called “eñe”
h. capital letters will be referred to as “mayúscula”
i. When referring to an accented vowel the student may say “acento”
or “con acento” after the vowel.
j. For the diérisis {ü}, the student may say “u diérisis” or “u con
diérisis”
6. When spelling a word orally, the following French letters should be clarified:
- capital letters will be referred to as “majuscule” (Eg. "b majuscule" = capital B)
- when referring to specially marked letters, they should be referred to as follows:
i. the “é” will be called “e accent aigu”
ii. the “è” will be called “e accent grave” (this accent used with A,E,U)
iii. the “ê” will be called “e accent circonflex” (used with A,E,I,O,U)
iv. the “ë” will be called “e tréma” (used with E,I,U)
v. the “ç” will be called “c cedille”
vi. There will be some hyphenated words: use “trait d’union” for the hyphen
NOTE: PHOTO/VIDEO-TAPING IS PROHIBITED DURING THE COMPETITION.
D. Sentence Scramble (Levels I and II -- Non-Native Speakers)
1. Teams of 4 students
2. Each school may have up to 2 teams per language per level
3. Sample sentences will be attached to the PDFLAC site that teachers can use to make practice cards.
LEVEL I – will cover through chapter 7
Round 1 – nouns/pronouns, adjectives and articles
- Teams will have 3 minutes to sort the provided cards into as many correct descriptive sentences as they can. Emphasis is on using proper agreement with the nouns/pronouns and the correct conjugation of the verb ‘to be’.
- Points will be awarded for the number of cards used in correct sentences. No points are awarded for cards in any sentence that contains errors.
Round 2 – present tense conjugation of verbs
- Teams will have 5 minutes to sort the provided cards into as many correct sentences as they can. The main emphasis is on using the correct conjugation of verbs, but to score the maximum number of points students will need to make more complex sentences using words drawn from all of the vocabulary and grammar lessons through chapter 7.
- Points will be awarded for the number of cards used in correct sentences. No points are awarded for cards in any sentence that contains errors.
LEVEL II – will cover the preliminary lessons and then chapters 1-5
Round 1 – present tense conjugation of verbs
- Teams will have 5 minutes to sort the provided cards into as many correct descriptive sentences as they can. The main emphasis is on using the correct conjugation of verbs, but to score the maximum number of points students will need to make more complex sentences using words drawn from all of the vocabulary and grammar lessons in the covered preliminary lessons and chapters.
- Points will be awarded for the number of cards used in correct sentences. No points are awarded for cards in any sentence that contains errors.
Round 2 – past tense conjugation of verbs (Spanish: pretérito y imperfecto; French: passé composé et imparfait)
- Teams will have 5 minutes to sort the provided cards into as many correct descriptive sentences as they can. The main emphasis is on using the correct conjugation of verbs, but to score the maximum number of points students will need to make more complex sentences using words drawn from all of the vocabulary and grammar lessons in the covered preliminary lessons and chapters.
- Points will be awarded for the number of cards used in correct sentences. No points are awarded for cards in any sentence that contains errors.
E. Guided speaking (Levels 1 and II)
The guided question bank will be provided to all schools for students to practice.
1. Each school may send 6 students per level per language to compete in this event.
2. Student will draw (5) random numbers from a container of and hand over to judge.
3. Judge will read the questions in the target language from a list of predetermined questions provided by committee (and available on website).
4. Judge will wait for contestant to respond to each question at a time.
5. Levels I and II students will converse with a judge for 1-2 minutes.
6. Judging criteria are: projection of thought and understanding, emotion, voice, pronunciation, content and overall effectiveness.
F. Poetry (all levels)
1. Each school may send 6 students per level per language to compete in this event.
2. Students must choose one of the pre-approved selections. Copies of these selections will be provided to judges by the contest directors.