The 2007 issue of “Nexus”
marks its ten-year anniversary!
When I first started the journal a decade ago, I had no idea if it would
be successful. But, judging from the
fact that subscribers—in its initial form, the journal was emailed to people
who requested it, a task that eventually ended up taking hours to complete—came
from over forty countries, and that submissions increased every year, I like to
think that “Nexus” filled a need in the field of teaching English to speakers
of other languages that was not met elsewhere.
Just as the Internet
evolved, so did “Nexus.” In 1997,
one of my original goals in starting the journal was to both provide a resource
for people who did not have access to up-to-date educational materials, and to
provide a place for people who might not otherwise be able to publish their
work. “Nexus” became a
peer-reviewed journal and it moved to a Web-based format when publishing via
email became too limiting. Now, of
course, the Internet is widely available.
As a result, a journal that is published only once a year seems to me to
be somewhat unnecessary.
However, I believe that a
resource devoted to ESL/EFL teacher trainers, educators, and developers would
still be useful so, to that end, I have decided to transform “Nexus: A Journal
for Teachers in Development” into a website that addresses the needs of people
who are working with ESL and EFL teachers. Now, it will be possible to add content on a more frequent
basis, when it becomes available.
I would like to get input from you, the readers of the journal, on what
type of content you would like to see on the website, so I have created a short
survey that asks for your ideas. I
would appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to fill it out. Thanks.
The two articles in this
issue of “Nexus” underscore how our field is changing, both in the classroom
and in our use of technology. In
the first article, Francie Christopher describes a study she conducted in a
school district in the U.S. which experienced a large increase in the number of
English Learners (ELs). She
provided access to resources about teaching ELs and then analyzed how the
teachers adjusted their instruction in response. Since the number of students in American schools who speak a
first language other than English has increased tremendously since “Nexus” was
first published, this study has important implications for the kind of
professional development that is offered to mainstream teachers.
The second article, by Boyd
Davis and Lisa Russell-Pinson, explains how the Web can be used to provide
professional development to teachers, in addition to face-to-face
training. In describing their
project, the authors embed in their article numerous links to webpages that provide
additional information as well as examples of the work created by participants
in their trainings. Such resources
could not be offered in a traditional paper journal, nor even in the earlier
version of “Nexus,” so I am pleased to be able to publish this article
now.
Finally, I would like to
thank all the contributors who submitted articles over the years. Your articles show
how varied our field
is, and how much we can learn from each other. It has been fascinating for me to read about ESL/EFL teacher
training around the world, and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with each and
every author. Another thank you
goes to the regular book reviewers: Ruth Wajnryb, Kirsten Schaetzel, and Andrew
Finch. Your reviews have
directed readers to a wide variety of books about ESL/EFL teaching and have
enriched the journal immensely. I
would also like to thank the peer reviewers of articles submitted for
publication to the journal, Kim Bradford-Watts and Susan Prior. The work you did was
crucial in helping
the journal expand and grow, and I truly appreciate your assistance in helping
each issue come to fruition. Thank
you all very much!
Over the next few months, I
will be converting this website into one that offers more than just “Nexus: A
Journal for Teachers in Development.”
You will still be able to access the journal from this website, but I
plan to offer more content as well.
Please come back and visit in a few month’s time!
In the meantime, enjoy the
journal.
