Basic English Grammar, Volume A [With CDROM]

Azar (as the author and text are called) is very good at explaining fundamentals of English grammar, and it is very thourough in the amount of examples and exercises it provides: fill-in-the-blank and oral exercises fill the book. The one complaint I have with this text as an ESL application is its lack of thematic units, which are very important to comprehension of subject matter. Being able to apply skills in a one-theme context keeps learning easier and less confusing. Use this text until something better comes this way (such as the forthcoming text by Karen Russikoff et al).