Guidance counselors can be a regular point of contact for ESL students. This not only provides them with consistent support, but also help establishes a repertoire. Frequent correspondence can help a counselor gauge the student's success in learning the language, in his studies and in adjusting to a new environment. It can help a guidance counselor identify and address the needs of the student.
A guidance counselor can also act in the role of helping an ESL student identify his language and academic goals and then develop strategies to achieve them. The guidance counselor will have access to assessment information to gauge a students current skills and use that to help them garner realistic ambitions. They can provide the student with concrete ways to increase their proficiency -- such as keeping a language journal or using vocabulary building exercises -- and then be a source of encouragement as the student applies them.
ESL students will likely be transitioning to a new environment that may be significantly culturally different. Guidance counselors can help reduce the stress associated with the change by providing an orientation, formal or informal, that helps explain the various functions of the school, important locations, and the different processes involved with being a student there. It will be useful if the guidance counselor has knowledge of the culture the students came from in order to make comparisons to the educational environment they are entering.
Guidance counselors can help ESL students transition to their new educational system by addressing nonacademic factors in their correspondences. One example is time management. ESL students, depending from their country of origin, may have different expectations of how much time should be spent outside of the classroom studying -- or in the least need a point of reference. If they are living with host families guidance counselors can provide a resource for answering questions about living with the new family that the student may not feel comfortable asking his host parents.