Engaging Future Professionals: How Language Teacher Associations Facilitate the Involvement of Student Members

Abstract

Little has been previously documented about the ways language teacher associations (LTAs) support the membership and involvement of student teachers. In this study, the publicly available information on the websites of 124 LTAs in the United States was reviewed to identify the strategies used by these associations to recruit student members, facilitate their involvement in association activities, and meet their unique member needs. Associations reviewed included language-specific associations (e.g., Spanish, English as a second language) as well as associations serving teachers of various languages. Findings indicate that the primary way LTAs encourage students to join is by offering discounted student memberships. However, there is a lack of consistency in how “student” is defined and the type of evidence required to prove student status. LTAs demonstrate that they value student members by allowing them to participate in association governance, giving awards which recognize student teachers’ developing pedagogical skills, and featuring students in member spotlights on websites and in newsletters. They also allow students to contribute to the work of the association through volunteering and to the knowledge base of the field through special presentation and publication opportunities. LTAs further strive to meet students’ financial needs by offering membership and conference registration discounts, grants for conference attendance, and scholarships for educational pursuits. Finally, they attempt to meet student members’ social and career development through the formation of student subgroups and career mentoring initiatives. The chapter concludes with recommendations on steps LTAs can take to more actively involve student members.

Appendix

Language Teacher Associations Sampled

• Alabama World Languages Association (AWLA)

• Alabama-Mississippi TESOL (AMTESOL)

• Alaska Association for Bilingual Education (AKABE)

• Alaskans for Language Acquisition (AFLA)

• American Association of Teachers of French (AATF)

• American Association of Teachers of German (AATG)

• American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI)

• American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ)

• American Association of Teachers of Korean (AATK)

• American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL)

• American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP)

• American Association of Teachers of Turkic Languages (AATT)

• American Classical League (ACL)

• American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR)

• American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)

• American Sign Language Teachers Association (ASLTA)

• Arizona Association for Bilingual Education (AABE)

• Arizona Language Association (AZLA)

• Arizona TESOL (AZTESOL)

• Arkansas Foreign Language Teachers Association (AFLTA)

• Arkansas TESOL (ARKTESOL)

• California and Nevada TESOL (CATESOL)

• California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE)

• California Language Teachers Association (CLTA)

• Carolinas TESOL

• Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools (CLASS)

• Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA)

• Classical Association of New England (CANE)

• Classical Association of the Atlantic States (CAAS)

• Colorado TESOL (CoTESOL)

• Confederation in Oregon for Language Teaching (COFLT)

• Connecticut Council of Language Teachers (CTCOLT)

• Connecticut TESOL

• Dakota TESL

• Florida Foreign Language Association (FFLA)

• Foreign Language Association of Georgia (FLAG)

• Foreign Language Association of Maine (FLAME)

• Foreign Language Association of Missouri (FLAM)

• Foreign Language Association of North Carolina (FLANC)

• Foreign Language Association of North Dakota (FLAND)

• Foreign Language Association of Virginia (FLAVA)

• Foreign Language Educators of New Jersey (FLENJ)

• Georgia Association of Multilingual, Multicultural Education (GAOME)

• Georgia TESOL (GATESOL)

• Greater Washington Association of Teachers of Foreign Languages (GWATFL)

• Hawaii Association of Language Teachers (HALT)

• Hawaii TESOL

• Idaho Association for Bilingual Education (IABE)

• Idaho Association of Teachers of Language & Culture (IATLC)

• Illinois Association for Multilingual Multicultural Education (IAMME)

• Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ICTFL)

• Illinois TESOL/Bilingual Education (ITBE)

• Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association (IFLTA)

• Indiana TESOL (INTESOL)

• Intermountain TESOL (ITESOL)

• Iowa World Language Association (IWLA)

• Kansas World Language Association (KSWLA)

• Kentucky TESOL (KYTESOL)

• Kentucky World Language Association (KWLA)

• Louisiana Foreign Language Teachers Association (LFLTA)

• Louisiana TESOL (LaTESOL)

• Maryland Foreign Language Association (MFLA)

• Maryland TESOL (MDTESOL)

• Massachusetts Association for Bilingual Education (MABE)

• Massachusetts Foreign Language Association (MAFLA)

• Massachusetts TESOL (MATSOL)

• Michigan Association for Bilingual Education (MABE)

• Michigan TESOL (MITESOL)

• Michigan World Language Association (MWLA)

• Mid-America TESOL (MIDTESOL)

• Minnesota Council on the Teaching of Languages & Cultures (MCTLC)

• Minnesota TESOL (MinneTESOL)

• Mississippi Foreign Language Association (MSFLA)

• Modern Language Association (MLA)

• Montana Association of Language Teachers (MALT)

• National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE)

• National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL)

• National Network for Early Language Learning (NNELL)

• Nebraska International Language Association (NILA)

• New Hampshire Association of World Language Teachers (NHAWLT)

• New Jersey TESOL/New Jersey Bilingual Educators (NYTESOL/NJBE)

• New Mexico Association for Bilingual Education (NMABE)

• New Mexico Organization of Language Educators (NMOLE)

• New Mexico TESOL (NMTESOL)

• New York State Association for Bilingual Education (NYSABE)

• New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers (NYSAFLT)

• New York State TESOL (NYTESOL)

• Northern New England TESOL (NNETESOL)

• Ohio Foreign Language Association (OFTLA)

• Ohio TESOL

• Oklahoma Association for Bilingual Education (OABE)

• Oklahoma Foreign Language Teachers Association (OFLTA)

• Oklahoma TESOL (OKTESOL)

• Oregon Association for Bilingual Education (OABE)

• Oregon TESOL (ORTESOL)

• Pennsylvania State Modern Language Association (PSMLA)

• PennTESOL-East

• Professional Language Association of Nevada (PLAN)

• Rhode Island Foreign Language Association (RIFLA)

• Rhode Island Teachers of English Language Learners (RITELL)

• Society for Classical Studies (SCS)

• South Carolina Foreign Language Teachers Association (SCFLTA)

• South Dakota World Language Association (SDWLA)

• Southwest Council on Language Teaching (SWCOLT)

• Sunshine State TESOL (SSTESOL)

• Tennessee Foreign Language Teaching Association (TFLTA)

• Tennessee TESOL (TNTESOL)

• TESOL International Association

• Texas Association for Bilingual Association (TABE)

• Texas Foreign Language Association (TFLA)

• Three Rivers TESOL (3-R TESOL)

• Utah Foreign Language Association (UFLA)

• Vermont Foreign Language Association (VFLA)

• Virginia TESOL (VATESOL)

• Washington Area TESOL (WATESOL)

• Washington Association for Bilingual Education (WABE)

• Washington Association for Language Teaching (WAFLT)

• Washington Association for the Education of Speakers of Other Languages (WAESOL)

• West Virginia Foreign Language Teachers Association (WVFLTA)

• West Virginia TESOL (WVTESOL)

• Wisconsin Association for Bilingual Education (WIABE)

• Wisconsin Association for Language Teachers (WAFLT)

• Wisconsin TESOL (WITESOL)

• Wyoming Foreign Language Teachers Association (WFLTA)