SAALT was first founded in 1966 as the South African Language Study Group. Since then the membership has increased to such an extent that the Association is at present representative of a large number of people involved in language and language teaching.

The most important objective of the Association is to serve language practitioners at all levels and in all spheres with an information and networking forum concerning issues in language teaching, e.g. new trends and developments, syllabi, publications and activities related to the profession. The Association is not restricted to any specific language and emphasis is placed on both the theoretical and applied/practical issues of language teaching.

Members receive the official publication of the Association, the Journal for Language Teaching, which has been internationally accredited since 1990.

SAALT holds an annual conference as well as workshops, courses and meetings of interest groups on an ad hoc basis at different venues.

It is an objective of the Association to identify problem areas, fields of research, determine priorities and share research findings and information in the field of language teaching and learning. The Association maintains contact with the producers and suppliers of equipment and material to be used for language instruction.