The use of dialogue journals as a means of communication between students and teachers originated as a teacher-developed classroom practice rather than a research idea or theory-derived technique. It began in 1964 when a California teacher, Leslee Reed, became fascinated with the comments about learning that she solicited from her students, and responded in writing. In 1979, a researcher began to analyze the communicative aspect of the diaries and teacher responses and found rich and varied language and thought in them. When the teacher was transferred to another school, where many immigrant children were learning English as a second language (ESL), she continued the practice with considerable success. A second researcher undertook a study of those diaries and the interaction in the classroom, which resulted in a collaborative research project. A third study at Gallaudet College, a four-year college exclusively for deaf students, examined the effect of sustained written interaction for deaf students and their teachers. The use of dialogue journals spread initially by word of mouth among teachers and researcher-educators, and has now become the focus of a professional newsletter, a variety of new research projects, and a number of doctoral dissertations. Two of these dissertations, by Jana Staton (University of California at Los Angeles) and Joy Kreeft (Georgetown University) respectively, were studies of the dialogue journal strategies used in Leslee Reed's two California classrooms. A dissertation by Robby Morroy (Georgetown University) examined more closely Reed's strategies for responding to and establishing understanding with ESL students. Marsha Markham (University of Maryland) studied the effects of dialogue journals in upper division composition classes, and Deborah Braig (University of Pennsylvania) analysed second graders' audience awareness as manifested in their dialogue journals. Abstracts of all five dissertations are included in this report and a list of publications on dialogue journals is appended. (MSE)