The "Notes" section of BRJ Online may contain several items. In this issue there are three items. The first describes the Online version of the Bilingual Research Journal, BRJ Online; the second is a Call for Papers for a planned special issue of BRJ; and the third is a note on date discrepancies. You may click on the item you wish to read or read them seriatum.

As we gain more experience with BRJ Online the strengths and weaknesses of the technology become clearer. The positive aspects are obvious and numerous, but a serious problem remains: inadequate bandwidth. This manifests itself as the inability by the Web to accommodate thousands, or millions, of users simultaneously without losing efficiency and speed. Experts claim that the Web is the most revolutionary innovation since the printing press. That may be true, but it means that the earliest electronic journals “printed” on the Web must suffer the inconveniences of all early innovations. The early printing presses no doubt had comparable problems.

The greatest inconvenience of the Web is the slow download speed for pages with numerous graphics or with large graphics such as the masthead on our Table of Contents page. With this issue we give you the option of reading BRJ Online with or without graphics. If you choose the “Text Version” you will get optimum download speed but you will not see the opening masthead or the graphic icons or buttons. Any graphics embedded in the articles may also be lost. If you are accessing BRJ Online via modem you may want to try the “Text Version”, especially if you are pressed for time. If your computer is connected directly to a local area network, graphic downloads are usually not a problem and you may want to stay with the “Graphics Option." Either way, the functionality and text content remains the same. Try both options and see what works best for you.

As a future project we hope to make the journal available in CD-ROM format as well as online. If the bandwidth problem is not resolved soon, a CD-ROM version of BRJ will reduce the problem of download time.

As we weigh the future of BRJ Online, please make your needs and suggestions known for making BRJ Online more user friendly.

Call for Papers: Special Issue of the Bilingual Research Journal Devoted to Recently Completed Dissertations

Important research on bilingualism and bilingual education has been carried out by doctoral students in the course of completing their dissertations. Cognizant of the need to make this research more widely accessible, the Editorial Policy Board of the Bilingual Research Journal has decided to devote an annual issue of the journal to a special collection of research articles based directly on dissertation research.

The first special dissertation issue of BRJ will contain articles derived from dissertations completed (and approved) in 1997 and 1998, the second for those completed during 1999.

The peer-review process for this project is independent of the NABE dissertation award competition. All authors, including NABE award winners, who wish to be considered for inclusion in a BRJ Special Dissertation Issue must submit articles in the designated form and timeline in order to be considered.

In addition to following the usual BRJ requirements, articles submitted for publication in a special dissertation issue must also adhere to the following specifications:

• authorship by a single author;
• length not to exceed 20 text pages (not counting references and endnotes);
• writing and organization of high quality; following the conventions of research-based studies.

No more than six articles will be selected for inclusion in the special dissertation-based issue of the Bilingual Research Journal. All submissions must report on original research. Qualitative and quantitative research will be considered; no preference will be given to one or the other.

Although these articles are expected to be based on dissertation research, we do not envision mere summaries of the dissertation document. Because they are significantly shorter and more focused, these articles may cover a portion of the original research, e.g., fewer research questions or hypotheses may be reported. The article may cover selected aspects of the analytical work. When a dissertation is not reported in its entirety the portions of the research that are not included in the article should be noted in a brief endnote. This will inform readers on what they may expect to find in the dissertation report itself. The dissertation should be included as an entry in the reference section.

Articles may be delimited in other ways to ensure a thorough and focused look at the most important part(s) of the dissertation study. The editors may give preference to studies that are a) especially timely; b) fill important lacunae in the knowledge base; or c) point to new directions in theory or practice in bilingual education, bilingualism, or language policy. Finally, the articles must be structured in a format that is appropriate for an article in a professional journal.

A guest editor has been selected to oversee the development of the first dissertation issue. The editor will have wide discretion in accepting articles and revision to articles submitted in response to this call for papers. All articles will be refereed in the same way as other articles selected for inclusion in BRJ and must comply with the same high standards of scholarship.

Prospective authors should contact the appropriate guest editor directly for further guidance on submitting articles.

For articles based on dissertations completed in 1997 and 1998 contact the guest editor:

Dr. Sylvia Cavazos Peña, Dean
School of Education
The University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College
80 Fort Brown
Brownsville, TX 78521
Scpena@utb1.utb.edu

Send copies of submissions and correspondence to: brj@asu.edu. Deadlines for receipt of articles for this special issue has been extended to May 1, 2000. The deadline for articles based on dissertation completed in 1999 will be announced at a later date.

Special issue of the Bilingual Research Journal: Literacy Development in Linguistically Diverse Contexts

While most children learn to read and write in the United States, there are obvious, persistent, and critical differences in equity—that is, access to, and participation in, developmental reading and writing experiences, and in the inherent benefits that follow. These differences are especially apparent in reading and writing abilities of students belonging to particular ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic groups in the United States. Hence, the literacy process and its outcomes, aside from being an individual issue, are an issue of equity for students belonging to various groups. In the United States, students from middle- or upper-class European American households have traditionally fared better than their low-income and minority group counterparts, with respect to literacy and general academic outcomes. Since the widespread introduction of computers in schools, beginning in 1984, disparities have also persisted in technological access and usage at school and home, based on household income.

Additionally, since 1968, the notion and degree of biliteracy (mainly in English and Spanish) has been the brunt of intense national debate in the United States, with regard to its character and role in the K-12 educational cycle and its impact on national identity and unity. The degree to which teacher education and professional development programs at the national level have attended to preparing teachers and administrators in this area over the past three decades is scant, at best. Thus, teachers and administrators are generally not competently prepared to plan, design, deliver, and assess effective biliteracy or emergent literacy experiences for students whose native or dominant language is not English. This principle generally holds true within dual language contexts where native English speakers are integrated with speakers of a language other than English—mainly Spanish.

Finally, the role and effect of family and community experiences on emergent and biliteracy development of children, and how these relate to learning within the formal educational and the students themselves may be characterized as native-born or immigrant, as stable or migrant.

These persistent disparities in educational equity for students labeled "minority"—according to language, color, or income—generally produce transgenerational negative consequences in educational outcomes, career choices, lifetime earnings, and democratic representation and participation. Persistent disparities in educational equity also continually weaken the fabric of national unity, as Dewey noted some eighty years ago: "We must teach ourselves one inescapable fact: any real advantage to one group is shared by all groups; and when one group suffers disadvantage, all are hurt" (Dewey, quoted in Westbrook, 1991, p. 246).

Topics

1.Manuscripts that address the following areas are particularly invited for review. . Appropriate transitioning from the L1 to the L2. Specifically, what degree of L1 literacy do students need to have in order to take the fullest advantage of formal L2 literacy instruction? And, what role does subsequent biliteracy development play in individual, social, and academic outcomes of students?

2. Processes, challenges, and outcomes associated with:
    a. L1 or L2 literacy instruction and learning by pre-literate adolescents or adults;
    b. Emergent biliteracy;
    c. Instructional strategies for students experiencing persistent reading difficulties in         their L1 or L2;
    d. Assessment of biliteracy;
    e. Integration of technology in the teaching and learning of literacy in the L1 or L2;
    f. Institutional response to effectively meeting the biliteracy needs of        underrepresented students, in the form of teacher preparation, profession        development, or school-wide restructuring programs; or
    g. Biliteracy practices in family or community contexts. The guest editors request        that manuscripts submitted as feature articles be a maximum of 30 computer-         produced pages, double spaced, in 12 point type, using 8.5 by 11 inch paper,         with one inch margins all around. Manuscripts for other sections may be shorter.

Authors must follow the style manual of the American Psychological Association (4th edition), submit a title page, and, on a separate page, a one paragraph abstract. The full name of the author(s), physical and e-mail address, and telephone and fax numbers must appear only on the title page.

The closing date for receipt of manuscripts is May 1, 2000. Generally, submissions are based on original work that has not been previously published. On an exceptional basis, contributions of high merit, interest, or significance may be reprinted at the discretion of the editors. All submissions will be peer reviewed.

Send manuscripts directly to the guest editors:

Josefina V. Tinajero and Robert A. DeVillar
Guest Editors, Bilingual Research Journal
College of Education, Room 601
University of Texas at El Paso
El Paso, TX 79968-0574

Electronic inquiries: tinajero@utep.edu or devillar@utep.edu.

Note on date, issue, and volume discrepancies

In the fall of 1998, a new editorial team based at the Center for Bilingual Education and Research, Arizona State University, assumed responsibility for the Bilingual Research Journal. At the time this change occurred BRJ was several issues in arrears. While the new team expects to bring the journal into currency, this will take time. Until the journal becomes current readers should note that certain articles may contain bibliographic references or allusions to events that took place sometime after the date and issue line. Hence, differences in date, issue, or volume numbers are due to the editors' decision to maintain an uninterrupted numeration and date sequence.

How to Contact BRJ

The editors and staff of the Bilingual Research Journal may be contacted by accessing the "Feedback" button on the masthead or by addressing e-mail to: brj@asu.edu. You may also click the "Editors" button on the masthead for specific names and other contact information.