Since then, the organization has set industry standards, established proficiency guidelines, advocated for language education funding, and connected colleagues at the ACTFL Annual Convention.

Thus, in those American programs that emphasize written language over spoken, students may reach the advanced level in reading and writing while remaining at a lower level in listening and speaking.

The ACTFL Performance Descriptors are defined in three different subsets of communications skills with their own more generalized grading scales in terms of domains, functions, contexts/ content, text type, language control, vocabulary, communication strategies, cultural awareness in all of the following modes of communication:[5] [6] [8] Each year the organization names the ACTFL National Language Teacher of the Year.

[9] The Language Educator (TLE) magazine is ACTFL's membership publication.

TLE is published quarterly with issues available to members in print and for digital download and via a mobile app.