professional organizations: foreign language teacher organizations

Teachers of foreign languages have both a state-level and national-level organizations to consider. The state organization is MCTLC, the Minnesota Council on the Teaching of Languages and Cultures. MCTLC has a conference each fall, this year in October.  One of the really cool things about this organization is the Forum: a place for questions, comments, and ideas related to each of the MN Foreign Language Standard Strands, plus a general forum for other questions and discussions. What a great way to keep up on what others are doing! Also, check out the Events page to see what kinds of opportunities within the organization are available to you.  Job seekers: the organization posts state-wide job listings, so check back often! Benefits of membership include a subscription to the newsletter and magazine, reduced rates to conferences and workshops, eligibility for awards, scholarships, and grants, email communication with announcements, initiatives, and events, and lots of networking opportunities.

MCTLC is a member organization of ACTFL, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. ACTFL, like many of the professional teaching organizations, publishes several journals to help teachers stay current on issues related to their discipline. Though most of their professional development workshops occur on-site (the organization is located in Alexandria, VA), there are some amazing opportunities if you can travel.  The annual convention will be in Denver in November, and looks like a pretty great program. ACTFL also is very active in advocating in support of foreign language education, and information can be found at the Advocacy page.

Another regional level organization to consider is the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Language, and an additional national organization is JNCL-NCLIS, the Joint National Committee for Languages & The National Council for Languages and International Studies.


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Are you starting to think about joining an organization?
If so, which one and why?