Mai Zaki is Associate Professor in the Department of Arabic and Translation Studies at the American University of Sharjah, UAE. She has a PhD in linguistics from Middlesex University, UK. She has taught linguistics, translation and Arabic for non-native speakers in Egypt, the UK and the UAE. Her research interests include corpus linguistics, translation and Arabic for non-native speakers. She also has professional experience as a translator, reviewer, linguistic consultant and teacher trainer.

John Mace has worked for some years in Arab countries, first as personnel officer in the oil sector, then as European Commission Delegate responsible for aid projects funded by the European Development Fund. He is also the author of Arabic Grammar (1998), Business Arabic: An Essential Vocabulary (2008) and Arabic Today (second edition 2008), all published by Edinburgh University Press.