A study investigated patterns of usage of French connectors (e.g., "alors,""mais,""puisque") among Chinese university students of French as a foreign language. The study arose from concern that the lack of connector usage contributed to a lack of coherence in the students' oral and written language. Subjects were 45 second- and third-year students. The language corpus was drawn from student papers and oral examinations. Analysis of the data suggests that the use of connectors varies as a function of: (1) the communicative situation; (2) the discourse competence of the interlocutors; and (3) the balance between communicative intentionality and ease of usage. It was also found that connector usage varied in oral and written usage in terms of frequency, variety, and type and in relation to the quality of expression. Usage differed in argumentation and narration, in respect to the French words' similarity to Chinese expressions, and in tests versus ordinary usage. A distinction is also made between flawed usage and deviant usage. Implications for the teaching of written and oral French are outlined, and recommendations for further research are made. A 150-item bibliography is included. (MSE)