Since "Nexus: A Journal for Teachers in Development" was first published in 1998, it has grown incrementally from a one-person operation to a journal with regular book reviewers and most recently to a peer-reviewed journal.  The next step in the evolution of the journal is to convert it to a Web-based publication and that should be accomplished with the 2005 issue.  I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Ruth Wajnryb and Kirsten Schaetzel (book reviewers), and Kim Bradford-Watts and Susan Prior (peer reviewers) for their hard work in helping to make "Nexus" a publication read by hundreds of people around the world.  My thanks also go to all the subscribers and the contributors, for without you, there would be no journal.  I hope the transformation of "Nexus" from an email journal sent once a year to subscribers to one available on the Web at any time, with back issues also available, will make it easier for people to access the journal.

Just as "Nexus" has gone from a small publication to a larger one with several people helping to make it a success, the articles in this issue of the journal range from a micro to a macro perspective.  Keith Folse explains why using context clues in a reading passage isn't always a particularly helpful technique for English language learners to acquire new vocabulary.  Moving from an individual to a classroom perspective, Adrianna Alvarez describes how an action research project can be a better way of evaluating learners than a traditional end-of-course exam.  Finally, Jioanna Carjuzaa shows how and why teacher educators can involve their trainees in a community program and the benefits that the trainees and students derive from it.  Continuing the pattern of moving from an individual theme to a more global one, Kirsten Schaetzel reviews a book that helps trainers analyze and reflect upon their own work, and Ruth Wajnryb reviews a book that is a compilation of literary selections by native English speakers from around the world.

Feedback is always welcome, and information on how to obtain the guidelines for submission may be found at the end of the journal.  The next issue of “Nexus” will be published in November 2005, and the deadline for submitting articles is June 20, 2005.  Enjoy the journal.

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Table of Contents

1) A Second Language Research Activity to Demonstrate the Limitations of Context Clues in Vocabulary Acquisition, by Keith Folse

2) From Evaluation to Reflection: Helping Trainees Write an Action Research Project, by Adriana Alvarez

3) Win-Win Partnerships, by Jioanna Carjuzaa

4) Book Review: Pursuing Professional Development: The Self as Source, by Kathleen Bailey, Andy Curtis and David Nunan; Reviewed by Kirsten Schaetzel

5) Book Review: Views and Voices: Writers of English Around the World, by Valerie Whiteson, and Francoise Beniston; Reviewed by Ruth Wajnryb