OUR MISSION

Since its founding in 1980, the AAUSC has worked

to promote, improve, and strengthen foreign language and second language instruction in the US;
to strengthen development programs for teaching assistants, teaching fellows, associate instructors, or their equivalents;
to promote research in second language acquisition and on the preparation and supervision of teaching assistants; and
to establish a forum for exchanging ideas, experiences, and materials among those concerned with language program direction.

WHY JOIN AAUSC?

AAUSC encourages the continued professional growth of its members on many fronts:

Research: In 2020, AAUSC launched an online journal, Second Language Research and Practice (SLRP). The SLRP website provides access to the entire 30-year history of AAUSC's annual volume, Issues in Language Program Direction.

Professional Development and Networking: AAUSC is the sponsor of the Symposium on Language Pedagogy in Higher Education, an annual online conference. As part of this symposium, we support two plenary speakers, and many members present papers relevant to language program direction and coordination. As part of this symposium, we also hold our annual business meeting.

AAUSC hosts other events throughout the year, such as the Spotlight Series, to bring members together around pertinent, relevant topics.

AAUSC also has allied status with the ACTFL and MLA. We hold one AAUSC session at the MLA meeting each year. In addition, we often host sessions at national and regional conferences (AAAL, ACTFL, etc.).

Voice: The AAUSC acts as a voice for supervisors and LPDs at both a state and national level.

Support: AAUSC offers a range of professional development grants and achievement awards to members.

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NEWS

AAUSC is pleased to announce the 2025 recipients of the Innovation in Language Program Direction Award! There were two recipients in the category of ‘Novel Application’ and one recipient in the category of ‘Adoption of New Theories.’ Awardees are listed in no particular order:

Novel Application Awardees:

Transforming the Intermediate Spanish Curriculum Through Open Pedagogy and Intercultural Competence
Irene Finestrat Martínez; Northwestern University, Department of Spanish & Portuguese

From typical to innovative: A revamped training program to prepare GTAs to enact justice-oriented pedagogies
Muriel Gallego; Ohio University, Modern Languages Department
Adoption of New Theories Awardees:

Building a Language Learning Ecosystem: Innovation for a Changing Student Population
Sophia Strietholt; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures

We look forward to highlighting these projects in an upcoming AAUSC event.

Many thanks to the awards committee (Ann Cai, Joëlle Carota, Cristiane Soares, Boris Yelin, and Giovanni Zimotti) for their time and thoughtful consideration of each project.