Verb Tense Agreement Issues in Somali L2 English Composition HIGH SCHOOL COLLEGE

Creating a piece of writing is an arduous task that presents challenges to both native and non-native speakers of English. Although there is enough material to help learners structure and organize their essays, English language learners (ELL) face surface level and sentence level issues. The purpose of this presentation is to analyze two such issues, produced by college-bound Somali students. Based on the trends that emerged, this presentation also provides three useful guidelines (adapted from Chappell & Rodby, 1982, pp. 16-18) directed toward teaching ELL writers — avoiding single-sentence exercises, providing paragraph-length excerpts from authentic discourse, and incorporating drafting strategies as part of the writing process.