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The American Association of Teachers of French
(AATF) was founded in 1927 and is the largest national association
of French teachers in the world with nearly 10,000 members.
The headquarters are located at Southern Illinois University
in Carbondale. A full-time Executive Director, Dr.
Jayne Abrate, and a staff of three handle the needs
of the membership under the guidance of an elected Executive
Council consisting of 18 or 19 members: a President, President-Elect
or Past-President, three Vice-Presidents, nine Regional
Representatives, as well as appointed representatives of
various activities. There are 75 chapters located across
the U.S.
The annual fee is $55. Members are French
teachers at all levels and include approximately 3/4 secondary
teachers and 1/4 post-secondary. There also is a growing
number of French teachers in immersion settings and in the
elementary grades. The President Dr. Marie-Christine Koop
of the University of North Texas, is a specialist in French
and Francophone cultures.
The
association produces two well-known publications-the French
Review, a scholarly journal of French studies now entering
its 80th volume and known the world over, and the National
Bulletin, now in its 32nd year, a newsletter devoted
to the teaching and promotion of French and Francophone
studies. (The French Review archives are available on-line
through J-STOR). They also have an Website (www.frenchteachers.org)
which has been recognized by the National Endowment for
the Humanities Edsitement project as an outstanding site
for teaching in the humanities and by Schoolzone as an outstanding
resource for teachers.
The
most important recent initiative has been National
French Week: La Semaine du Français.
It was such a resounding success that they have voted to
institutionalize National French Week as an integral part
of their programs. The National French Week 2007 was celebrated
from November 5-11, across the U.S. by our 75 local chapters
and many of our 10,000 member teachers to celebrate the
French language and French-speaking cultures.
The
AATF annual conventions regularly occur in French-speaking
areas where members can benefit from immersion in a French-speaking
culture. Recent conferences in Francophone locales have
included 2000 in Paris where French Minister of Education,
2003 Martinique, and 2005 Quebec City. In 2004 they met
jointly in Atlanta with the Fédération internationale
des professeurs de français which regroups the more
than 130 national associations of French teachers throughout
the world. This meeting was attended by over 1100 teachers
from more than 115 countries. In upcoming years they will
hold our convention in Liege, Belgium (July 16-19, 2008),
San Jose (Julyl 2-5, 2009), Philadelphia (2010), and Montreal
(2011).
The
AATF's Commissions, made up of experts and interested members
from all teaching levels, address issues of concern to members
and include: Telematics and New Technologies, Student Standards,
Professional Teacher Standards, Foreign Language in the
Elementary School, Cultural Competence, French for Business
and International Trade, Middle Schools, Articulation, Universities,
High Schools, Community Colleges, Promotion of French, and
Advocacy. These groups have published numerous specialized
volumes for teachers and serve as important resources in
their area of expertise.
The
AATF participated along with the American Association of
Teachers of German and the American Association of Teachers
of Spanish and Portuguese and the American Council on the
Teaching of Foreign Languages in the development of the
Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century
which were first published in 1996 and have served as a
model for many states developing their own standards. The
five goals of Communication, Cultures, Connections, Communities,
and Comparisons (known as the 5 C's) are now widely used,
both in documents produced at the regional, state, and local
levels, and in public discourse on the topic.
As a professional association
the AATF seeks to address the concerns of our members which
include: Promoting the study of languages in general and
French in particular; Facilitating the implementation of
national and state standards in the classroom; Improving
the training of French teachers by encouraging minimum levels
of language and cultural proficiency, and exposure to the
French-speaking world through study abroad opportunities;
Creating opportunities and finding resources for practicing
teachers to update their skills and improve their teaching;
Eencouraging the use of new technologies in the teaching
of French and actively developing materials to support this
use.
The AATF is a founding member of the Joint
National Committee for Languages/National Council on Languages
and International Studies.
Contact
address: AATF - Mailcode 4510, Southern Illinois University,
Carbondale, IL 62901
phone: 618-453-5731
fax: 618-453-5733
email: abrate@siu.edu
website: http://www.frenchteachers.org/
This
society has not participated to our survey yet. Information
are unverified.
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