American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese

Last updated
Primary color copy.png
AbbreviationAATSP
FormationDecember 29, 1917
Type Professional association
PurposePromotion of the study and teaching of Hispanic, Luso-Brazilian, and other related languages and cultures
HeadquartersBirmingham, Alabama
Location
Region served
United States and Canada
Membership
10,000+
Official language
Spanish, Portuguese, English
Executive Director
Sheri Spaine Long
AffiliationsACTFL, JNCL-NCLIS
Website www.aatsp.org

The American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese is a language-specific professional association in the United States that was founded on December 29, 1917, in New York City as the American Association of Teachers of Spanish. The name was changed to the present one when Portuguese was added to the association's mission in 1944.

Contents

The organization is composed of more than 10,000 members in 60 chapters across the United States and Canada.

Mission statement

The mission statement of the association is to:

promote ... the study and teaching of Hispanic, Luso-Brazilian, and other related languages, literatures, and cultures at all educational levels. Through an exchange of pedagogical and scholarly information, the AATSP encourages heritage and second-language study and supports projects to that end. [1]

History and organization

The Association was founded in 1917 largely through the efforts of Lawrence A. Wilkins, its first President, who worked with a number of individuals teaching in colleges, universities, and high schools along the Eastern Seaboard. [2] Aurelio M. Espinosa, later the first editor of Hispania , helped Wilkins to unite the previously existing east and west coast Spanish teachers' initiatives to form the national association. [3] The AATSP was the first association in the United States devoted to the study of a specific modern foreign language, pre-dating the AATI (1923), the AATF (French) (1927), and the AATG (German) (1927).

Membership has always been open to teachers of Spanish and Portuguese and all others interested in the languages. There are Honorary Members and Fellows who represent, respectively, the world of Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian scholarship and the world of letters.

Governing body

The governing body of AATSP is an Executive Council (EC) which consists of an executive director, a president, a president-elect, and the past president. There is an elected representative from the college or university and high school levels. In addition, there is a rotating body of elected members every three years of three members, one from a community college, one from Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools (FLES), and one from Portuguese.

The Executive Council meets once a year face-to-face at the annual conference, through numerous conference calls, and regularly through online meetings via email. There is a business meeting at the annual conference through which all members can express their concerns to the EC. There are also standing committees for Portuguese, FLES, award selection, scholarship selection, and nominations.

Services

Annual conference

An annual conference has been held each year since 1917 with the exception of two years during World War II when government restrictions prohibited such gatherings. Each annual conference consists of a wide range of sessions, numerous workshops for members, and many social activities designed to augment the camaraderie of members. In the 21st century, meetings have been held in Albuquerque, San José, Costa Rica, San Diego, Salamanca, Spain, New York City, Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, and Guadalajara, Mexico.

Career center

The AATSP offers employment opportunity information to its members by way of an online career center. This interactive tool allows job seekers to search for jobs based on their personal criteria and allows employers from school districts, colleges, and universities to announce job openings.

Publications

Hispania is the official journal of the AATSP. From its inception, it was envisioned as a scholarly publication and also as a source of practical advice for classroom teachers. It features articles on literature, language, theoretical and applied linguistics, cultural studies, and book and media reviews. It has steadily grown in prestige and has had 12 editors through the years; the present editor is Dr. Sheri Spaine Long of University of Alabama at Birmingham. Publications are in March, June, September, and December. Hispania is a member of the Council of Editors of Learned Journals.

Enlace is the AATSP's online newsletter that contains timely articles of interest to members. The Portuguese Newsletter features items of interest about the Luso-Brazilian world. They are both published in the spring and fall.

Scholarships and awards

There are three categories of scholarships AATSP offers. The first is a "First-Time-Attendee" travel stipend for the annual conference. There are ten $500 stipends offered which are distributed to faculty members and to graduate students. Applicants must be a member of AATSP at the time of application, a teacher of Spanish and/or Portuguese K-16, and a first time attendee at an AATSP annual meeting.

There are also scholarships for study abroad programs in Costa Rica, Mexico, and the Andean countries of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru. The study abroad programs provide scholarships and the AATSP supplements the scholarship with a $750 travel stipend. Applicants must be an AATSP member for three consecutive years, a full-time Spanish teacher for three years, and continue to teach Spanish for an academic year following the scholarship experience.

The Robert G. Mead, Jr. Travel and Study/Research Stipend is a $1,000.00 travel stipend made possible through the contributions of friends of Professor Mead and his widow Harriet. Applicants must travel and conduct research in a Luso-Hispanic country and be a student member of AATSP for two years or a regular member for three years.

The AATSP accepts nominations from its members for individuals who have done outstanding work in the promotion of foreign language education in Spanish and Portuguese. Awards include Outstanding Teacher of the Year, Outstanding Service, Chapter Incentive, Robert G. Mead, Jr. Distinguished Leadership, Maria Isabel Abreu, and ISE Language Matters. More information is available on the official AATSP website. [4]

Student involvement

FLES poster contest

Each year the AATSP sponsors a poster contest for all students enrolled in Spanish or Portuguese in grades Pre-K-8 of AATSP members in good standing. It is an excellent opportunity to discuss language learning with younger learners. The contest is a great classroom activity and program advocacy tool providing student recognition.

Honor Societies

The Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (SHH) was established in 1952 as a service-oriented honors society for select students of Spanish. It has long published an official newsletter for its sponsors, ¡Albricias!, which includes poetry, short pieces, illustrations, and photography created by the students themselves. There are more than 1800 chapters and the number of initiates grows each year. A club for elementary and middle school students, the Sociedad Hispánica de Amistad (SHA), was formed in 2001. Kelly Scheetz directs the SHH and Beth Gaunce directs the SHA.

National Examinations

The National Spanish Examinations (NSE) are web-based, standardized assessment tools for Grades 6–-12, given voluntarily by over 3400 teachers throughout the United States to measure proficiency and achievement of students who are studying Spanish as a second language. [5]

The National Portuguese Examinations (NPE) are communicative proficiency-based tools that engage the students in reading, speaking, and writing. They are intended for High School students of Portuguese.

See also

Related Research Articles

Graduate school School that awards advanced academic degrees (i.e. masters and doctoral degrees) with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate (bachelors) degree

A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. A distinction is typically made between graduate schools and professional schools, which offer specialized advanced degrees in professional fields such as medicine, nursing, business, engineering, speech–language pathology, or law. The distinction between graduate schools and professional schools is not absolute since various professional schools offer graduate degrees and vice versa.

The American Translators Association (ATA) is the largest professional association of translators and interpreters in the United States with nearly 10,000 members in more than 100 countries.

Fle3 is a Web-based learning environment or virtual learning environment. More precisely Fle3 is server software for computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL).

Institute of Ismaili Studies

The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) is a research institute in London, United Kingdom. It aims to promote the study of Muslim cultures and societies, both historical and contemporary, in order to foster a greater understanding of their relationships with other societies and faiths. It also functions as a gathering point for the Ismaili community as it endeavors to understand its own history and thought, including the often neglected fields of esoteric Islam and Shi‘ism.

Student exchange program Program in which secondary school or university students study abroad

A student exchange program is a program in which students from a secondary school or university study abroad at one of their institution's partner institutions.

Beirut Arab University (BAU) is a Lebanese private university located in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded by the Lebanese El-Bir and Ihsan Society in. The university is ranked among the top universities in the Arab Region by 2015/16 QS World University Rankings.

Bromsgrove International School Thailand (BIST) is a British curriculum day and boarding school with two campuses in Min Buri District, Bangkok, Thailand, catering for students between the ages of 2 and 18. The school is located within the grounds of a 36-hole golf course within 15 kilometres (9 mi) of Bangkok International Airport (Suvannabhumi) and 30 kilometres (19 mi) from central Bangkok. It provides an alternative for students in Southeast Asia to study in a UK boarding school closer to home.

The Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica is an academic honor society focused on Spanish language and Portuguese language excellence in secondary education and promotes a continuity of interest in Spanish and Portuguese studies. Its motto is "¡Todos a una!". The group, which was established in 1953 in the United States is sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. Each chapter has its own unique name, which is associated with some aspect of the Spanish or Portuguese culture. Each society member must have completed at least three semesters of Spanish or Portuguese with an honor average as defined by the local chapter. He/she must be enrolled in Spanish at the time of induction and is required to maintain an "honor grade" or GPA, which correlates with the SHH's mission of high academic achievement.

ELAM (Latin American School of Medicine) Cuba Medical school in Cuba

Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina (ELAM), formerly Escuela Latinoamericana de Ciencias Médicas, is an international public medical school operated by the Cuban government established in 1999. Its mission is to "contribute to the training of Primary Health Care physician in diverse regions of the World".

The Walter Byers Scholar program is a scholarship program that recognizes the top male and female student-athlete in NCAA sports and that is awarded annually by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It is considered to be the NCAA's highest academic award. The NCAA initiated the Walter Byers Scholarship program in 1988 in recognition of the service of Walter Byers. The award is a postgraduate scholarship program designed to encourage excellence in academic performance by student-athletes. The recipients each year are the one male and one female student-athlete who has combined the best elements of mind and body to achieve national distinction for his or her achievements, and who promises to be a future leader in his or her chosen field of career service. Winners receive scholarships for postgraduate study.

Sturgis Elleno Leavitt

Sturgis Elleno Leavitt (1888–1976) was the Kenan Professor of Spanish at the University of North Carolina, the author of many books on Spanish language and literature, the president of several Spanish language teaching organizations, an adviser to the U.S. State Department and for many years the chairman of the Southern Humanities Conference as well as editor of the Hispanic Review.

The National Spanish Examinations are online, standardized assessment tools given voluntarily by over 3000 teachers throughout the United States to measure proficiency and achievement of students who are studying Spanish as a second language.

Hispania is a peer-reviewed academic journal and the official journal of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. It is published quarterly by the AATSP and covers Spanish and Portuguese literature, linguistics, and pedagogy. Hispania publishes in literature, linguistics, and pedagogy having to do with Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking communities, as well as book/media reviews, which are subdivided into Pan-Hispanic/Luso-Brazilian Literary and Cultural Studies, linguistics, language, media, and fiction and film.

Vistula University

Vistula University is a non-public academic higher education institution based in Warsaw, Poland. It was established in 1992 as the University of Insurance and Banking. Its branch since 2019, is Aleksander Gieysztor Academy of Humanities in Pułtusk.

Harrow International School Hong Kong School

Harrow International School Hong Kong is a British international boarding and day, all-through school in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong. When it opened on 3 September 2012, it became the first British boarding school in Hong Kong. It was also the third in the Harrow family of schools in the Asia region in association with Harrow School and The John Lyon School in London. The School provides a British independent style of education from Early Years to Y13.

TESOL Quarterly is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of TESOL International Association. It covers English language teaching and learning, standard English as a second dialect, including articles on the psychology and sociology of language learning and teaching, professional preparation, curriculum development, and testing and evaluation. The editors-in-chief are Charlene Polio and Peter De Costa, both at Michigan State University. TESOL also publishes TESOL Journal.

Society for the Teaching of Psychology

The Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP) is Division 2 of the American Psychological Association. It is an academic society that promotes effective pedagogy while providing supports for teachers of psychology at all levels. Although it is one of the divisions of the American Psychological Association, it does not require its members to join the APA. The STP provides access to peer-reviewed teaching resources, such as course syllabi and e-books, free of charge to the general public through its website. Some sections of the website require STP membership to gain access.

Manuel Alvar was a Spanish linguist, historian, and university professor who specialized in the study of dialectology and philology of the Spanish language. Throughout his career, Alvar oversaw and influenced the creation of many Spanish linguistic atlases; maps which recorded speech variations in a given geographical area. He served as Director of the Real Academia Española for four years, and was a member of language academies throughout Europe and Latin America.

The Classical Association of Canada (CAC) is a national, nonprofit organization with the aim of advancing the study of the civilizations of the Greek and Roman worlds in their Mediterranean context, including philology, Classical archaeology, papyrology, epigraphy, and numismatics. The CAC encourages public awareness of the contribution and importance of Classics to both education and public life. Its official languages are English and French.

The Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM) is the oldest professional Area Studies library organization for academic librarians, archivists, book vendors, scholars, and students who specialize in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Members are from at least 20 different countries. SALALM promotes better library services and purchasing power among individual members and member libraries. With the Secretariat based at Tulane University's Latin American Library, it is an international non-profit professional organization with three official languages: English, Spanish, and Portuguese. SALALM is an affiliate of the American Library Association. As of May 2015, the organization had 242 personal and 84 institutional members including librarians, archivists, book dealers, vendors, and university libraries.

References

  1. AATSP Official Web site
  2. AATSP History
  3. Walsh, Donald Devenish. Hispania, Vol. 50, No. 4, Fiftieth Anniversary Issue (Dec. 1967) p. 823-833
  4. AATSP Awards
  5. National Spanish Examinations