ACTFL is the acronym for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. This professional organization is well known and well respected by world language educators, scholars, education administrators and government officials.
Since its inception in 1967 ACTFL has been at the forefront of innovation with regard to Best Practices for teaching world languages. In addition, it provides support and advocacy for world language educators and for world language initiatives within our local and national government entities.
ACTFL’s most notable contributions are the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages and the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012, which have been widely adopted in world language programs across the US and abroad.
Every year ACTFL holds its annual conference in one of a half dozen or so major cities around the US, attracting world language educators and scholars of all grade levels including higher education institutions. Workshops and presentations cover a wide variety of topics that range from teaching with technology to classroom activities to scholarly papers and research.
The conference also houses a most impressive vendor site, where you can find pretty much everything and anything related to world language education. For example, there are a plethora of companies representing textbooks, educational travel, teaching resources and technology. Whenever I attend an ACTFL conference, I usually pack an empty duffle bag for all of the great resources I end up purchasing.
ACTFL’s website is nothing short of superior. You’ll find loads of information about language acquisition, along with professional development opportunities, forums where educators can connect for support, a career center with job postings, ACTFL publications and an abundance of other world language resources.
Furthermore, the site offers courses online, certifications, scholarships, internships and proficiency testing in more than 100 different languages. This website is a goldmine of pedagogical information and the go-to site for its 13,000 members when they are in need of answers to their questions.
What you’ll find on the ACTFL website, in their publications and at their conferences clearly supports their mission of being “dedicated to the improvement and expansion of the teaching and learning of all languages at all levels of instruction.” They are always moving forward, and always providing what world language educators need in order to deliver the best instruction possible.
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