This collection of papers is the first in a series that will highlight cutting-edge research in the area of second language learning and teaching. After an introduction, "The Second Language Educator's Challenge: Learning about Literacy" (JoAnn Hammadou Sullivan), 12 papers include the following: (1) "Theoretical Developments in Reading Chinese and Japanese as Foreign Languages" (Michael E. Everson); (2) "Technological Literacy and Foreign Language Literacy in a Technological Era: Considerations of Two Interacting Constructs for Foreign Language Education" (Michael Fast); (3) "What Should Teachers Know about Bilingual Learners and the Reading Process?" (Andrew D. Cohen and Rosalind Horowitz); (4) "Teaching Foreign (Second) Languages to At-Risk Learners: Research and Practice" (Richard L. Sparks, Elke Schneider, and Leonore Ganschow); (5) "Spanish Teachers' Beliefs and Practices about Reading in a Second Language" (Terri Ann Gebel and Leslie L. Schrier); (6) "The Form-Meaning Interface: A Study of Japanese as a Foreign-Language Writing" (Sufumi So); (7) "Electronic Message Boards in the Foreign Language Classroom: Linking Learners and Literacy" (Rebecca L. Chism); (8) "The Effects of Passage Content in Second Language Reading by Gender across Instructional Levels" (Cindy Brantmeier); (9) "Reading between the Lines: Detecting, Decoding, and Understanding Idioms in Second Languages" (John I. Liontas); (10) "Advanced Second Language Readers' Inferencing" (JoAnn Hammadou Sullivan); (11) "When Phonological Limitations Comprise Literacy: A Connecticut Approach to Enhancing the Phonological Competence of Heritage Language Speakers of Spanish" (Maria M. Carreira); and (12) "Literacy in Digital Environments: Connecting Communities of Language Learners" (Mary Ann Lyman-Hager, Ann Johns, Honorine Nocon, and James N. Davis). (Papers contain references.) (SM)