Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

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Find Your People

ACTFL encourages members with shared interests to network and share information within the larger structure of the association. To facilitate these activities, we have established Special Interest Groups (SIGs) to provide continuous networking and information sharing on a specific topic or area of interest to a subset of our overall membership. SIGs operate under the aegis of ACTFL and are a vital component of the member service activities.

SIGs operate year-round through the ACTFL community, newsletters, webinars, and sessions at the ACTFL Annual Convention & World Languages Expo. Your ACTFL membership includes unlimited access to all SIG communities below. To join the SIGs, visit ACTFL Central, and simply click on the join button on any of the available communities.

Join Your SIG on ACTFL Central

How to Form a New SIG

If you are interested in forming a SIG that is not listed below, review the guidelines for SIG formation here. You can click here to support a new SIG that has already been proposed (new SIGs must get 150 signatures to form).

Special Interest Group Guidelines

Official Processes and Responsibilities

Learn more

Full List of All Available SIGs

African-American Students

Provides a public forum for the discussion of issues relating to African American students and their needs as language learners.

Arabic

Serves as a network for and information sharing among Arabic language and culture instructors.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) SIG

Supports the goal of uplifting linguistic diversity and centering the teaching and learning of languages at a time when some may say that AI can replace the vital human connections that engender cross-cultural understanding, intercultural competence, and an inclusive world view.

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Cinema (Film)

Seeks to respond to the increasing interest in and use of films in language instruction, acquisition and assessment.

Community Colleges

Provides leadership and cohesiveness to the teaching of foreign languages at the community college level.

Comprehension-based Communicative Language Teaching

Seeks to foster among members a better understanding of the role of input and comprehension in the development of language proficiency.

Critical and Social Justice Approaches

Promotes and supports critical and social justice approaches in language instruction.

Distance Learning

Provides a forum for the discussion of strategies, program models, and the many challenges facing distance learning educators.

German

The German SIG provides a professional network for German-language educators, promotes the teaching and learning of the language and cultures of the German-speaking countries, promotes articulation between pre-collegiate and post-secondary German language programs, with issues that are of interest also to teachers in AP and IB programs, and represents the German-language teaching community within ACTFL.

Heritage Languages

Represent the concerns of and provide a network for the heritage languages teaching community.

Immersion

To expand opportunities for dialogue, information exchange, professional development and research initiatives among ACTFL’s dual language/immersion educators who work in and advocate for school-based, preK-16 language immersion programs throughout the U.S.

Indigenous Languages SIG

The purpose of the Indigenous Languages SIG is to provide a space for Indigenous language teachers, learners, and educators to share ideas, exchange information, promote dialogue, collaboration, etc. for the broad spectrum of Indigenous language work. Indigenous languages are unique in that the inclusion of Indigenous concepts and ways of knowing, tribal customs and practices, as well as traditional oral methods for maintaining beliefs naturally promote a different approach to teaching and learning language. It is important for Indigenous communities to have a space to share ideas or collaborate to engage in language restoration, maintenance or preservation.

Korean

Provides a forum for discussion of Korean teaching, a networking system and a voice for Korean teachers.

Languages for Specific Purposes

Unites educators from a range of disciplines to discuss and define goals and best practices to provide students with real-world, global perspectives and transferable skills aligned with skills employers seek.

Language Learning for Children

The Language Learning for Children (LLC) SIG promotes and supports early language programs in the U.S. through advocacy, networking and articulation.

Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTL)

Promotes the learning, knowledge and needs of LCTLs and the development of policies and the sharing of best teaching practices.

Modern Greek

Provides a forum for the Modern Greek language and culture teaching community.

Portuguese

Promotes and support Portuguese programs in the U.S.A. through advocacy, networking and articulation.

Research

Provides leadership in conducting research to inform instructional practices and build theory, as well as demonstrate how research is shaped by knowledge and theory generated from instructional practices.

Sign Language SIG

Provides a forum to emphasize the diverse sign language communities worldwide, promote cultural awareness when communicating with deaf individuals, acknowledge sign languages as legitimate and complete languages with their own grammar, syntax, and linguistic structures, and recognize that sign language offers an alternative mode of communication for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, emphasizing that spoken language is not the only means of expression.

Spanish for Heritage Learners

Concerned with the teaching and learning of Spanish for individuals who have a home background in the language.

Teaching & Learning of Culture

Encourages a better understanding of the teaching of culture and its place in the foreign language curriculum.

ACTFL Member Exclusive

Join a SIG

ACTFL members can join as many as 19 available SIGs to match your interests in language education. There is no charge for ACTFL members to join as many SIGs as you would like...what are you waiting for?

Go to ACTFL Central and Pick Your SIGs Not yet a member? Join Now!

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