ACTFL 2026

How it compares

Southern Conference on Language Teaching is the regional alternative for educators whose main objective is teaching practice and connections across the Southeast. Its 2026 conference brought more than 530 attendees from 24 states. The program accepts work across languages, levels and both traditional and immersion programs, making it a useful setting for a focused professional conversation. ACTFL is the broader choice when that conversation also needs a substantial supplier floor and a national spread of language education organizations.

Modern Language Association serves a different professional agenda. Language and literature scholarship, academic teaching and the concerns of humanities departments sit at its center. Its convention includes an exhibit hall and a Professional Development Hub, with sessions in person and online. A university scholar weighing research exchange against classroom purchasing may find MLA closer to the first task and ACTFL closer to the second.

ACTFL is most distinctive where those tasks overlap: a language program wants to compare materials, understand assessment options and see teaching approaches demonstrated by the organizations behind them. The expo and exhibitor workshops let curriculum, technology and travel discussions accompany professional learning. SCOLT can supply a regional teaching network; MLA can supply a scholarly one. ACTFL brings the language education market into the visit itself.

ACTFL fits language educators and program leaders who want classroom learning and a broad comparison of curriculum, assessment, technology and educational travel in one trip.

Who exhibits

Cambridge University Press & Assessment, McGraw Hill and Carnegie Learning place curriculum and publishing at the center of the floor. Language Testing International adds proficiency assessment, while Mango Languages and Speakology AI represent digital learning. Goethe-Institut and the Italian Trade Agency bring cultural and institutional connections. Educational travel runs alongside those teaching tools through EF Educational Tours and WorldStrides. The mix gives visitors reasons to compare a language program as a whole, including the experiences beyond its classroom.

1. 

   Italian Trade Agency

2. 

   McGraw Hill

3. 

   Goethe-Institut

4. 

   MEININGER Hotels

5. 

   Language Testing International

6. 

   Vista Higher Learning

7. 

   a&o hostels

8. 

   Mango Languages

9. 

   JPT America

10. 

    Cambridge University Press & Assessment

11. 

    Speakology AI

12. 

    Duolingo

13. 

    This is School

14. 

    Wayside Publishing

15. 

    The Comprehensible Classroom

16. 

    WorldStrides

17. 

    Vive l'expérience

18. 

    TPRS Books

19. 

    Kong & Park

20. 

    Klett World Languages

21. 

    Little Sponges

22. 

    Cengage

23. 

    The Pulsera Project

24. 

    Lingco

146 companies are on the list. A HallBrief brief ranks every one against your goals and finds who to meet at each. Get a brief

ACTFL 2026

ACTFL 2026 places AI and digital learning beside its established teaching program through the AI Corner Classroom and Digital Learning Lounge. Debbie Allen leads the opening keynote, with Mychal-Bella Rayne Bowman closing the convention. Electronic posters, a Career Café and a Wellness Studio broaden the ways participants can learn between sessions. The evening Language Connects Ceremony and the Vista Higher Learning sponsored SIGstravaganza add professional community to the curriculum and supplier discussions.

• Use the Meet the Exhibitors periods for supplier conversations; they sit alongside electronic poster sessions, linking classroom research with the expo floor.
• For AI tools, pair the AI Corner Classroom with digital learning exhibitors such as Speakology AI to connect demonstrations with the teaching program.
• ACTFL members interested in language-specific professional connections can use SIGstravaganza; its separate advance registration and limited capacity matter.

Exhibiting

A stand fits publishers, assessment providers, language learning platforms and educational travel businesses that can demonstrate a clear use in a language program. Standard space excludes furnishings, carpet and electricity, and ACTFL requires approved floor covering. Non-profit tabletops have a different package and eligibility test. Exhibitor workshops provide a separate route to explain products in a teaching setting; the space contract also carries substantial cancellation obligations.