Each spring (typically in April), HALT hosts its biggest event of the year, our Spring Conference. Highlights include keynote addresses given by language experts and award-winning teachers, selected presentations by K-16 world language educators in Hawai‘i and abroad, the publishers’ exhibit (and its annual prize drawing), and more. HALT members receive a discounted registration rate.

Keynote Speaker

Linda Egnatz is the Executive Director of the Global Seal of Biliteracy, a free international language certification program that serves to recognize and document bilingual skills in over 65 countries. Egnatz is a Bilingualism Matters Advisory Board Member, a Global Heritage Language Think Tank Member, and served as the 2023-24 President of the Joint National Committee for Languages (JNCL-NCLIS) and 2015-16 President of the Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Egnatz has taught Spanish at both secondary and university levels, and in 2013, received the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2014, she was named the ACTFL National Language Teacher of the Year. Egnatz served on the 2015 joint task force to establish the first National Guidelines for the Seal and her support of the Seal of Biliteracy is now international in scope, collaborating with a variety of educational partners to recognize and celebrate language learners. She is NBCT certified and holds an M.A. in Spanish Literature from Purdue University and taught both Spanish and World Language Methodology courses at Purdue University and DePaul University. Her articles have appeared in the Foreign Language Annals, Hispania, The Language Educator, Language Magazine, Journal of the National College Testing Association, Eduverse, and Education Weekly and she was a contributing author to Foreign Language Education in America: Perspectives from K-12, University, Government, and International Learning.