The mission statement of the association is to: promote ... the study and teaching of Hispanic, Luso-Brazilian, and other related languages, literatures, and cultures at all educational levels.
Through an exchange of pedagogical and scholarly information, the AATSP encourages heritage and second-language study and supports projects to that end.
[1]The Association was founded in 1917 largely through the efforts of Lawrence A. Wilkins, its first President, who worked with a number of individuals teaching in colleges, universities, and high schools along the Eastern Seaboard.
[2] Aurelio M. Espinosa, later the first editor of Hispania, helped Wilkins to unite the previously existing east and west coast Spanish teachers' initiatives to form the national association.
[3] The AATSP was the first association in the United States devoted to the study of a specific modern foreign language, pre-dating the AATI (1923), the AATF (French) (1927), and the AATG (German) (1927).
It features articles on literature, language, theoretical and applied linguistics, cultural studies, and book and media reviews.
There are also scholarships for study abroad programs in Costa Rica, Mexico, and the Andean countries of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru.
The AATSP accepts nominations from its members for individuals who have done outstanding work in the promotion of foreign language education in Spanish and Portuguese.
It has long published an official newsletter for its sponsors, ¡Albricias!, which includes poetry, short pieces, illustrations, and photography created by the students themselves.
[5] The National Portuguese Examinations (NPE) are communicative proficiency-based tools that engage the students in reading, speaking, and writing.