2026 NYSAFLT Annual Conference

This session will walk participants through our district's multi-year transition to proficiency-based exams, focusing on the ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL). We will share details on how we have managed the technical logistics of district-wide testing and prepared for implementation across several schools. Discussion will include successes and challenges, along with some considerations for schools and districts across the state.

How can students succeed in learning a new language when no one at home speaks it? This session addresses a common challenge for world language teachers: limited language exposure outside the classroom and families who want to help but do not know the target language. Participants will explore practical strategies for extending learning beyond the classroom without requiring parents to speak the language. Strategies include simple home-learning routines, accessible family communication, independent practice, technology-supported activities, and ways to engage parents as learning partners rather than language instructors. Arabic examples will be shared, with strategies applicable to all world languages.

Students of language rely on the brain's ability to process and make meaning from sounds in order to acquire the language they are learning. Auditory Processing Disorder (APD), sometimes referred to as Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD), is a neurological condition that affects how the brain interprets and processes sounds, thus impacting how a student acquires language. During this presentation, a doctor of Audiology and a French teacher will introduce teachers to the types of processing challenges that students with this disorder may face and describe classroom modifications to assist with comprehension and production of the target language.

When technology fails, instruction doesn’t have to. This interactive session equips world language educators with quick, no-tech strategies to sustain proficiency-based, communicative learning. Aligned to ACTFL standards, participants experience adaptable routines, explore real-time decision-making, and leave with ready-to-use activities and a
personalized pivot plan to maintain meaningful communication anytime.

Are you wondering how your World Language Department can best meet the needs for both Heritage Learners and ELLs? If you are, then this workshop is for you! In this workshop we will share the steps taken to initiate programs and courses that are designed to best address the needs of Heritage Learners and ELLs in the World Language Classroom. In this workshop curricula, activities, and strategies designed and implemented in our Spanish Language Arts Program and Heritage Spanish Program will be shared as well as what we did to get courses and programs approved to support the academic success of a growing subgroup of our student population. We will also share details and the adjustments we have made while implementing the SLA program.

Mentors are often assigned, but rarely prepared. Too often, we mentor based on what we can give, not what our mentees need, leaving new teachers unsupported and mentors overwhelmed especially in a field facing declining numbers of World Language educators. This session is designed for teacher mentors seeking a clear, practical structure for year-long support. Using a three-phase framework (Launch → Support → Sustain), participants will analyze real scenarios and develop a customizable mentoring roadmap for contexts where content-specific mentorship is limited. Attendees will leave with a first-meeting conversation guide, WL-specific look-fors, and tools to support mentees effectively—without adding to their own workload.