Perhaps no one on campus knows the population of internationally-educated students better than the ESL instructors who work with them day-in and day-out, learning first-hand through classroom discussions and writing assignments about their students’ aspirations, fears, and goals.

As a result, ESL students often look to their ESL instructors for advice and guidance on navigating the United States’ educational and workplace systems. Here are some ways an ESL instructor, or an ESL department as a whole, can build on that base of mutual respect and trust to help accelerate students’ passage into the professional work world.