ESP Project Leader Profile: Rachel Lee
Kevin Knight, Kanda University of International Studies, Chiba, Japan
Hello, ESPers worldwide!
The 67th ESP Project Leader Profile features Rachel Lee, Aviation English Specialist at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida in the United States. Rachel is the Chair-Elect of the TESOL ESPIS. Please see Rachel’s bio below.
Rachel Lee is an Aviation English Specialist at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. She teaches English for Air Traffic Control and English for Flight Training to adult, non-native English-speaking aviation professionals and student pilots. She has worked at Embry-Riddle for nearly six years, first with the Embry-Riddle Language Institute and the Flight Department, and now with the Aviation English Department – Worldwide team.
Rachel entered Aviation English through an unusual professional path. While many Aviation English instructors begin in English language teaching and later develop operational aviation knowledge, Rachel first spent nearly two decades working in aviation education before becoming an ESL instructor. Her passion for aviation began in high school, and she worked at a local airport to help fund her flight training. She earned her private pilot certificate as a college student and worked for her university’s aviation program in Weather and Dispatch. After passing the NOAA Certified Weather Observer exam, she produced weather observations transmitted worldwide as METAR reports for pilots. She later became supervisor of Weather and Dispatch.
Rachel holds a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Management, a Master of Public Administration in Aviation, and a Master of Arts in TESOL. Before moving into a career in Aviation English, she held administrative positions supporting aviation students. Her professional interests include adult language learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, materials development, and projects connected to real-world aviation needs.
In addition to teaching, Rachel participates in course and curriculum development. Because relatively few Aviation English teaching materials are available, she and her colleagues create many materials themselves through a collaborative process of development, peer review, and continual revision.
In her responses to the interview prompts, Rachel describes leadership as supporting others to carry out their own ideas, and in her narrative, she explains how she empowered her learners to write their own stories in which they share their aviation expertise with colleagues worldwide.
Rachel Lee
Aviation English Specialist, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Define leadership in your own words.
I do not usually think of myself as a traditional leader. I am not someone with a highly charismatic personality, and I do not lead an entire department. However, leadership can also be seen in the everyday work of someone committed to doing her best for her students, colleagues, and professional community.
I believe leadership is strongly connected to relationships and attitude. An effective leader is persistent, supportive, flexible, and willing to adjust when circumstances change. A leader respects other people and communicates appropriately and diplomatically. They do not allow mistakes or failure to bring a project to an end.
I am an “ideas” person, but I have learned that not every idea I have is practical or well timed. Leadership means being willing to listen when an idea needs to be revised, postponed, or set aside. It also means supporting other people as they develop and carry out their ideas. I enjoy helping solve problems, considering creative solutions, and finding ways for people with different kinds of expertise to contribute.
In my teaching, leadership also involves helping adult learners understand the purpose behind what they are doing. My current students, for example, are air traffic controllers in Brazil who need English to manage radio communications with pilots from around the world. I connect classroom activities and homework to their professional responsibilities, and I often ask students to explain why a particular activity is important. When students understand how their learning relates to their work, they are more likely to take ownership of it.
Tell me an ESP project success story. Focus on your communication as a leader in the project. How did you communicate with stakeholders to make that project successful?
One project that has been especially meaningful to me is my “Service-Learning Project”, which began with a simple question: Could we create aviation-related reading materials for English learners?
When I worked for the Embry-Riddle Language Institute, part of Reading class time was reserved for students to choose books from our graded-reader library and read for pleasure. Many people say that they do not enjoy reading, but they may become engaged when they find material that interests them. I began thinking about the limited number of aviation-related stories available for language learners. I posited that if students could read stories connected to their interests and professions, perhaps they would be more motivated to read in English.
The project began early last year after I met the chair of the ERAU Department of Humanities and Communications – Worldwide at a university picnic. We discussed our respective fields. He suggested that we collaborate. I soon approached him with a partially developed idea: students in his writing courses could write short aviation-related stories that might eventually become part of a collection for English learners.
At that point, I had the basic vision but had not solved the problem of how to create materials at different language levels. With the chair’s support and input from his colleagues, the idea developed into a fuller project. His department’s AI specialist created an agent that could adapt student-written stories into various levels for language learners. Creative writing students then read the versions and reflect on what the AI did well and less well. The project therefore creates potential reading materials for English learners while also giving creative writing students practical experience with AI literacy.
The project involves several stakeholders. The Department of Humanities and Communications provides administrative support and connects the project with COMM 355: Creative Writing. The faculty help evaluate the quality of the student writing and contribute to the ongoing development of the AI agent. Aviation subject-matter experts help ensure that the stories are operationally accurate. University library employees have also helped us consider how the collection could eventually be housed and accessed.
The students who write the stories are essential participants. They choose whether to share their work, and they may remain anonymous if that makes them more comfortable. I created a video embedded in the assignment to explain how their writing can serve non-native English-speaking aviators around the world. I wanted them to see that their assignment was not simply an academic exercise; it could be a resource for people learning the language they need for aviation work.
Communication has been central to the project. Touching base with collaborators throughout each academic year has helped keep the project moving. At the same time, momentum naturally slows during the summer when many people are away from work. The project has required persistence, patience, and acceptance of an uneven pace.
One challenge I encountered was developing a complete vision and gaining the support of each person involved. The project could not move forward through one person’s enthusiasm alone. Each participant needed to understand the purpose of the project and the role they could play in it. We have improved the process including by clarifying and simplifying the instructions for the writing students and by offering anonymous participation. These changes have made it easier for students to opt in.
The project is still developing. We currently have a collection of a few dozen stories, and the number is growing gradually. Receiving stories that I believe English learners will genuinely enjoy reading has been an important source of encouragement. The project originally began as a pilot, but because of the optimism and support of the university administration, it has become a permanent part of the COMM 355 course in the university catalog. That development has been one meaningful sign of the project’s success.
Our long-term goal is to create an open-access collection that can be used not only by our students but by aviators and future aviators around the world. Learners will be able to read enjoyable aviation-related stories at an appropriate level while developing their English.
This project has reminded me that I cannot be as successful working alone as I can be with a team of qualified, motivated people who believe in the idea. It has also taught me to accept the natural ebb and flow of long-term projects. Sometimes responsibilities are delayed or mistakes are made, including mistakes on my part. I have had to extend grace, remain flexible, and remember that the project would not exist without the contributions of many people.
This Service-Learning Project is collaborative and continually developing. Its value lies not only in the stories already produced but also in the connections it has created among Aviation English, creative writing, artificial intelligence, library services, and service-learning education. It demonstrates how an idea can grow when people from different disciplines communicate openly, contribute their expertise, and remain willing to adapt.
Rachel shares a wonderful example of tapping into the expertise of her learners. In my own work, I often rely on the professionals in my class to tell me what they actually say on the job in a negotiation or other interaction. However, Rachel has inspired me to seek new ways to empower my learners to share their professional expertise with others worldwide!
Do you have any questions or comments for Rachel? Please feel free to contact her directly.
All the best,
Kevin
Kevin Knight (PhD in linguistics, MBA, MPIA) is Professor in the Department of International Communication of Kanda University of International Studies in Chiba, Japan. His research interests include leadership conceptualization and development, ESP, and professional communication. He is series editor of Leadership in Language Education. (See https://www.candlinandmynard.com/leadership.html .)