Pamela Wright Moers has worked with American Sign Language (ASL) and English language instruction for over 25 years, and both her work and her studies have focused on the various uses of language. Her research has been on language endangerment, diversity in sign language, third-world sign languages, and the phonological and semantic structures found in ASL. She is currently developing an advocacy program to serve deaf refugees. The more she taught deaf refugees and immigrants in her classes, the more she learned just how acutely different our worlds can be. Moers realized that she could not successfully teach international students if she clung to her own worldview. Teaching started with understanding her students' background. The students bring a set of needs completely different from those of their U.S. counterparts. Their learning depends on responses to the following questions: (1) Where did they come from?; (2) What have they experienced?; (3) What did they leave behind?; (4) How did they get here?; and (5) What happened during their move? For students who are deaf or hard of hearing, an even more important question may be: "Do they have a language?" All of these factors affect the student's transition and should shape how the educational team addresses the student's needs. Language instruction must extend from the word level all the way to linguistic and cultural expectations; only the full breadth of language instruction will help them get and keep jobs. Communication must become a collaborative process, with explicit tracking of feedback and comprehension. The article contains a piece by the same author titled, "Dispelling Myths Related to Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students Who Are New to the United States."