Uktub Al-'arabiya

Book excerpt: This new series of three books aims to develop the writing skills of students learning Modern Standard Arabic, enabling them to move from forming correct words, phrases, sentences, and simple texts, to writing simple paragraphs and ultimately producing texts with the competency of a native speaker. This beginners' introduction starts with the development of reading skills through recognition, identification, listing, and recall, before progressing to activities based on different reading strategies that target seeking information, visualizing, solving problems, and interpreting. Grammatical structures are embedded in these exercises, which range from letter sequencing to simple paragraph writing. Developed and piloted in the classrooms of the Arabic Language Institute at the American University in Cairo, this series has benefited from the expertise and knowledge of leading teachers of Arabic.