Most Arabic textbooks concentrate on morphology and syntax, but while these provide the indispensable structural base, students still find there is a wide gap between their theoretical knowledge and their practical ability to write connected prose. This unique textbook concentrates on the connectors (those articles, phrases, or idioms which join words, phrases, clauses, or sentences) in a functional setting with the aim of developing and improving the writing skills of intermediate and advanced students of Arabic as a foreign language. Each lesson of "The Connectors" begins with a presentation of the structures, followed by a sample text and sample sentences, before moving on to a graded series of exercises. The book contains twenty-seven lessons, including five review lessons, and a sample test at the end.

Nariman Naili Al-Warraki is Senior Arabic Language Teacher and Director of the Arabic Language Unit of the Arabic Language Institute at the American University in Cairo.

AHMED TAHER HASSANEIN is professor of Arabic studies and chairman of the Arabic Department (Languages and Translation) at Misr University for Science and Technology, and is the author of numerous books on Arabic grammar and style.