Topics in infrastructure have taken a more prominent place in the public sphere following developments in green technology, and the United States’ emerging interest in the field can be seen in wider commentary, with one example coming from John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight as the program ran a string of video clips of elected officials repeating, “Infrastructure isn’t sexy” (Oliver, Carvell, Thoday, Stanton, & Fitzgerald, 2014). Contrary to those proclamations, infrastructure is entering the limelight, and ELLs can also be a part of the discussion as many come from increasingly urbanized areas that also face structural challenges. Using a series of steps, ESL instructors can provide relevant projects in infrastructure that engage students with the language community and enhance skills through relevant themes that bridge issues to students’ countries.

Choose a Theme

The instructor must first find a theme for a project, and he or she could approach this search in two ways. One involves observing a location on campus and asking, “How could this building, space, or process be better?” I found a specific spot on the school’s rooftop that is shared with an NPR station. Rather than using valuable space and the sun, the roof was covered by a black tarp held down with big, loose rocks, and this area provided a perfect learning space that inspired me to base the class around green development.

Another way to find a theme would entail a search online into urban planning, green technology, or other topics based around infrastructure. I searched for types of waste management, and, after combing through green ways of reducing trash, I learned about the use of anaerobic digesters, which reduce landfill waste by using bacteria to break down organic waste. After searching for organizations that use anaerobic digestion in the Boston area, I found that the city’s waste water management facility has several organizations. The instructor’s own curiosity has the potential to uncover ideas and drive the course’s direction, and because everyone lives in a building and flushes a toilet, the class makes clear connections to students’ lives. Sexy, right?

Collect Materials

After the project idea has been established, ESL teachers have direction in collecting materials, including sources they used to educate themselves about the theme. YouTube, Vimeo, and TED Talks have informational videos about most infrastructure-related topics, while NPR has a plethora of reports about infrastructure stories. Government agencies and lobbying organizations via online searches also contain reports, statistics, and details into the processes of the themes. However, if instructors are unable to locate enough information, they should reconsider the topic and search for other possibilities.

Settle on a Final Project

Once relevant input materials have been collected, ideas as to how the final project will manifest should begin to emerge while keeping in mind access to limited materials, time, and resources. A final product could be a project to be graded by an outside source, as my class created an alternative rooftop plan that was critiqued by Boston University’s sustainability director. A project could also be something as simple as a public presentation of the learned material to other classes. The key point in either case is that there must be pressure coming from outside the class, and once the instructor has the final project, this will help guide class materials, trips, and guest presentations.

Contact Guests and Organizations

Establishing communication and timelines with guests and organizations in advance can allow instructors flexibility in coordinating efforts and provides relevance to material presented in class. However, reaching out to the community can be difficult, even within the host institution, as many entities may never respond or have obligations that do not fit the class’s schedule. Both green architecture and anaerobic digester projects required emailing and calling multiple people who never returned correspondence, but the right person eventually agrees to work with the class. Once this connection is made, instructors have to communicate with the other party in terms of asking how the class could maximize learning during the visit. For the green architecture project, the class was encouraged to read Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, or, in the case of the waste water management facility, my students had to pass security clearance just to access the site (which required 2 weeks of processing time).

Introduce Input

When materials have been collected, guests and organizations contacted, and the final project idea prepared, the instructor organizes when and how to use materials in class. With both the green building and waste management projects, I started with an NPR radio report listening activity to form ideas about the topic at hand, and then had students read the source again to analyze and manipulate lexical and grammatical items. After reading other articles, introduce YouTube videos for students to hear the new vocabulary being used outside of the original radio report. Throughout this learning process, which can last for 2 weeks or more, encourage students to compare and contrast these problems and solutions in the local community to their own. Not only do teachers and ELLs from different countries stand to benefit, but students of the same nation might also be surprised to learn about previously unknown challenges and victories.

Assign Presentations

Infrastructure entails many services and fields, and one topic in infrastructure is composed of multiple parts and processes. For this reason, assign students specific features to present in class. For example, LEED has various certification standards, so students presented separate technological mechanisms that help organizations comply with those criteria. In the same vein, anaerobic digesters employ many steps in converting waste to fertilizer and collecting methane, so students presented each step. However, the key to any presentation during this project learning is to give two grades: one for the presentation and the other for note-taking skills. The first is usually assumed to be graded, while the second must be explicitly said in directions to students. The result is increased attention, willingness to ask questions and for clarification, and more interaction and intake.

Interact With Guest or Organization

Much of the project’s work begins to culminate during this phase when students interact with community members and organizations. Time spent learning vocabulary and processes comes to life as the students hear the speaker discuss the heat island effect, irrigation, and potable water, or in the case of waste water management, sludge, treatment, sulfides, methane, and other lexical items learned in class that helped them to maximize their time with non-ESL personnel. These scaffolded visits do not go unnoticed by students, as one of the grand strengths of this type of project learning is the chance to visit people and areas beyond typical venues, such as museums. For the green building work, the trip involved ascending the stairs to the local NPR station and then climbing a ladder to the roof; the location was real, connected to the students’ immediate community, novel, and free. A trip also has the potential to be life changing for students. As one ELL told me after visiting the waste water facility, “I had no idea what I wanted to do with engineering, but now I’m sure I want to work with water quality processes.” Both trips require hours of preparation, which is one reason why project learning has the potential to be noticed as something special by students.

Prepare for and Present the Final Project

After all the informational materials are consumed, the field trips are done, and the guest speakers are gone, the zenith of the semester’s work emerges: the final project. I generally allow 2 weeks for students to create the final project with 25% of time allocated during class. For the green building section, students worked in groups to calculate the dimensions of the roof, design an alternative structure, and research the cost of their plan. This project was then presented to Boston University’s sustainability director, who critiqued their project mercilessly, and, surprisingly, the students thoroughly enjoyed the “tough love.” The anaerobic digestion section worked in groups to create a presentation that summarized information from the semester while also including historically relevant material about water in Boston. This particular group did not present to a specialist, but spent more time experiencing how to consider an audience by creating a multilevel PowerPoint presentation that was delivered to varying levels within Boston University’s IEP.

Survey Students

Utilizing one topic throughout a 12-week semester may seem trying, but if instructors follow the steps above, intersperse projects throughout the term, and then survey students afterwards, ELLs will respond positively and appreciate how projects improved the four skills, vocabulary, grammar, and content knowledge. By the time the projects are complete, students will be reminded of how far they have come, how they can use their practice beyond the university’s IEP, and how they can be part of an increasingly sexy community conversation about infrastructure.

References

Oliver, J., Carvell, T., Thoday, J., Stanton, L., & Fitzgerald, D. (Producers) (2014). Last Week Tonight. In John Oliver. HBO. 

Antonio R. Iaccarino is a senior lecturer at Boston University’s Center for English Language and Orientations Program. Iaccarino has taught English and designed curriculum for all ages throughout various NGOs, private language institutes, community colleges, and universities in Latin America, Europe, Asia and the USA. Iaccarino is also the founder of Boston English School, a website for ELLs to connect with university and public school faculty for supplementary English goals: www.bostonenglishschool.com. You may also reach Iaccarino through www.ariiaccarino.com.