English for aviation

De Aline Pacheco

Communication in aviation is a challenge for pilots, air traffic controllers, aviation personnel and, consequently, for professionals who are in charge of teaching and assessing the language used in the aeronautical context. The growing demand in the market along with constant commitment with safer skies have posed the need for more and more studies that try to contribute to this issue, especially those which attempt to describe and explain the use of English in aviation. The book brings introductory information about teaching Aviation English regarding general guidelines for teachers in addition to data from academic research conducted in the area. Specific studies based on the analysis of aeronautical accidents and incidents, interviews with pilots and ATCOs and corpus research show that the use of the English language in aviation should be further addressed.

• Idioma: Português
• Editora: Editora da PUCRS
• Data de lançamento: 22 de ago. de 2022
• ISBN: 9788539712588

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PREFACE

Learning English has always been one of my passions. Through that, I felt I could understand the world better and go farther. Naturally, my professional choice has taken this direction and I chose to share with people my pleasure for learning – that is how I understand teaching English, which is what I have been doing since 1993 in a language school, an airline company -VARIG, and a university - the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS).

English for Aviation came along the way and reinforced my passion even more, because I can help people go literally farther. Research is a fundamental tool for me to keep doing that: I do not see my professional performance without investigating what I have to teach as much as I can.

This book is mainly intended to introduce concepts about English for Aviation through guidelines for teaching and introductory research in order to present what has been done and to encourage others to join this field. Currently, I have been trying to develop research projects at PUCRS, where I teach undergraduate students in the Aeronautical Science Program. The projects are intended to ultimately attain optimal curriculum design and are about accident/ incident investigation and a corpus building. I hold a Graduate Degree in English Language, a Master’s in Applied Linguistics - Second Language Acquisition and a PhD in Applied Linguistics.

Through this book, I am actually trying to offer what I did not have years ago when I started - and I would venture to say that many of many colleagues would say the same. One of the purposes of this book is to offer some preliminary information about teaching Aviation English. Additionally, the book is intended to provide research results from introductory academic studies developed at PUCRS, written in English by Brazilian pilots, so that we can go on teaching and building more research and curriculum aiming ultimately at safer skies.

Chapter 1 brings elementary concepts and definitions with regard to Aviation English and a discussion about issues such as WHY and HOW to teach it. The other chapters are based on final monograph papers of students in the Aeronautical Science Program, supervised by me at PUCRS. They bring valuable data to our reflection and practice.

Chapter 2 approaches a discussion on aviation radiotelephony and how miscommunication can happen in an environment with a multilingual background. Data are based on collected interviews from pilots and air traffic controllers and the results point at interesting features from intercultural communication.

In the same perspective, Chapter 3 is about multiculturalism in the cockpit and its influences in communication on the perspective of English native speakers. Lucas Pereira presents results from interviews with native speakers that show the importance of sticking to standard phraseology whenever possible.

In Chapter 4, we have a discussion about language as a contributing factor in aviation accidents through a human factors taxonomy-based analysis. This taxonomy is part of the core research being developed at the LHUFT center, at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, headed by Professor Elizabeth Mathews, one of the top specialists in the area.

Chapter 5 approaches a different kind of analysis: how is the English language dealt with ab-initio pilots? Lucas Bouefleur interviewed student pilots in their commercial pilot course and outlined a description of the language use and need in this stage.

The problem of miscommunication and the possibility of CPDLC as an alternative is discussed in Chapter 6 through answers from interviews with pilots flying abroad. As previously thought, technology is not predicted to replace voice communications completely.

Linguistic ambiguity and its impacts on the international aeronautical phraseology are approached in Chapter 7. The results are illustrated by means of pie charts and show that aviation language can actually be very ambiguous even when it is required to be as clear as possible.

A corpus-based research is presented in chapter 8 by an analysis of the most used lexical terms in emergency situations. Andressa Pannebecker analysed real-life material and, through the use of WordSmith tools, came up with the most used lexical items in urgency contexts.

In Chapter 9, Otavio Ferrari interviewed 5 pilots flying for companies based in the middle-east and brought very relevant issues for discussion concerning multiculturalism and linguistic relations in aviation. Additionally, the study approaches intra-cockpit features.

Lastly, Chapter 10 covers an impactful mid-air collision caused by miscommunication – Charkhi Dadri, in 1996. It accounts for the use of English as a lingua franca on flight safety.

I would like to thank my students along these 25 years for having given me the opportunity to share my learning with them and for having taught me so much! I would also like to thank a few people who have always supported me: Ana Elisa Pereira Bocorny and Simone Sarmento, Heloisa Orsi Koch Delgado, Luciano Marques de Jesus and Claudia Musa Fay. A special thank you to my dear friend Elizabeth, whose knowledge, expertise and kindness have inspired me so much.

I hope that the studies presented can foster the interface of language and aviation that is so required and needed in order to empower teachers, researchers and curriculum designers.

TEACHING AVIATION ENGLISH: AN INTRODUCTION

ALINE PACHECO

Introduction

The mandatory use of English in aeronautical communications has had significant impact not only on professionals in aviation operations, but also on those in charge of teaching them.

Teaching is always of great responsibility, but those who decide to teach aviation English are faced with the challenges that any ESP teaching requires: a more attentive look at the target language, which is supposed to feature an interface between regular English language elements and specific language components derived from the aviation universe.

This article is intended to cover the primary assumptions of teaching English for aviation in what concerns its basic definitions, aviation safety, materials and methods. We propose three questions: What? Why? How? and, throughout the article we try to answer them.

It intends to work as a preliminary support for those who may want to start in the field or as an additional guide for those who are already experiencing the challenges of teaching English to pilots or air traffic controllers (ATCO).

1. Aviation English: WHAT is it?

Much has been said and discussed about how we best define English for aviation. However, before getting into the discussion of what it actually is, let us set clear what it is not - and it is NOT a test. It is a misconception to assume that such a variety of English use is limited to the scope of tasks that grade aviation professionals to perform their activities.

Concern over the role of language in airline accidents turned into action in 1998 when the ICAO Assembly assigned high priority to efforts to strengthen provisions concerning language requirements. (Mathews, 2011) Then, in 2003, ICAO imposed new standards for Aviation English, which required pilots and ATCOs to reach a minimum level 4 of language proficiency defined by a prescribed rating scale[ 1 ]. Since then, Aviation English teaching and testing has become a major focus worldwide.

In Brazil, the test is called Santos Dumont English Assessment (SDEA) and is regulated by the Brazilian national civil aviation authority ANAC (Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil). Even though we are aware of the fact that pilots and controllers (and some teaching professionals) tend to focus on preparing for the tasks that comprise the tests because they have to hold a license, we are going to assume that, in order to have it, they have to master the use of the language of aviation by studying much more of what is comprised by the tests if they are actually and ultimately committed to aviation safety.

Hence, the language that is comprised by the target of our teaching is usually referred to as Aviation English. [ 2 ]

Estival, Farris and Molesworth (2016) conceptualize Aviation English as being a language for a specific purpose, used both by native and non-native speakers of English who communicate with each other in a context where English is the working language. Aviation English is one of the aviation languages designed for aviation communication while aviation communication itself also includes a range of other types of non-verbal systems.

The authors understand that aviation communication refers to a broader scope: ground marshalling hand signals, NAVAIDS, light signals, aircraft movements. Inside this, we find Aviation Spanish, Aviation Russian, Aviation French and also Aviation English.

Aviation English is a domain of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Paltridge & Starfield (2013) say that ESP "refers to the teaching and learning of English as a second or foreign language where the goal of the learner is to use English in a particular domain.’

It is a restricted variety of English, which has been designed for the specific purposes of communications that take place between air traffic controllers and pilots.

Barbara Clark (2017) defines it as a specialized code, based on the English language, used by pilots and air traffic controllers working in international civil aviation, with standards, phrases, and levels of proficiency established by ICAO.

Moder (2013) says that Aviation English describes the language used by pilots, air traffic controllers, and other personnel associated with the aviation industry. Although the term may encompass a wide variety of language use situations, including the language of airline mechanics, flight attendants, or ground service personnel, most research and teaching focus on the more specialized communication between pilots and air traffic controllers, often called radiotelephony.

Based on these assumptions, we can say that the language used in aviation covers communications that involve Phraseology and Plain English.

Phraseology is a standardized, prescribed, highly constrained set of phrases to be used in routine situations. ICAO mandates that messages be clear, concise and unambiguous and recommends Document 4444 as a reference guide for that.

Phraseology covers dialogue structures, terms, phrases, pronunciation, syntax, as well as discourse structures. For example, in pronunciation, the numbers 3, 5 and 9 are respectively pronounced as tree, fife, niner and the letters in the alphabet are regularly read as Alfa, Bravo, Charlie (respectively for A, B, C, etc.). In syntax, exchanges are brief (reduced vocabulary), grammatical forms are limited.

Moder (2013) gives us an example:

"PN395: Center Control, Papa November tree-niner-fife at tree-tree zero.

CC: Papa November tree-niner-fife, Center Control, roger, maintain flight leveltree-tree zero, report at Dukka.

PN395: Report at Dukka, Papa November tree-niner-fife."

(MODER, 2013, p. 229)

In aeronautical communications, Plain English is the language used in problematic situations or when specific phraseology is not sufficient. It is assumed that in unexpected or emergency contexts, more language other than standardized phraseology, like the use of more common English vocabulary and syntax, may be necessary to solve problems. Another example from Moder (2013) illustrates that:

A492: Center Control, Airline four-niner-two, we’re deviating just a little bit left of course for weather.

CC: Airline four- niner- two, Center Control, left deviation approved, after deviation fly directly to Omano.

A492: Roger, after deviation, direct Omano, Airline four-niner-two.

(MODER, 2013, p. 231)

The concept of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) is closely associated with it. A lingua franca, according to Estival & Farris (2016) is defined as a working language, a language that is used by speakers who have no common language. We assume that English is used as a lingua franca in aviation because it is used as a common working language by native and non-native speakers of English.

Aviation English has no native speakers. It is a speech variety that must be learned even by native speakers of English. This is actually the cause of a lot of discussion and reflection. Studies point to the fact that aviation professionals who are native speakers of English have shown to use expressions that are not standardized language, thus making it difficult to non-natives to fully understand what is being said. (Clark, 2017; Borowska, 2015)

In this line, Borowska (2017) understands that naming this language variety as aviation English is not only inappropriate but also helps this kind of misconception, once the linguistic variety is called English and native speakers may feel they own the language. [ 3 ]

2. Teaching Aviation English: WHY?

As seen previously, the use of English as an international language of air traffic control is mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the agency of the United Nations (UN) in charge of setting standards for aviation safety and promoting cooperation among its member states.

According to the ICAO policy, pilots on international flights and air traffic controllers in air spaces that receive international flights must demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively in English. (ICAO 2004)

Bocorny (2008) puts that the use of English in the aeronautical context is a consequence of the impactful role of the american aviation industry following the II World War – most aircraft producers and pilots used English. However, even with the expansion of the industry as a whole, the language factor has also taken another proportion since travelling has hugely increased and there are native and non-native speakers involved in aeronautical communications. Taking for granted that all these people are proficient can be dangerous especially when evidence of accidents or incidents in which language is a factor is clear.

Stephen Cushing (1994), in his reference book FATAL WORDS (for studies about accidents and incidents caused by miscommunication problems) tries to bring examples in which language was a factor, whether a main or a contributing factor.

A classical accident that illustrates the problem of language as a main factor is the 1977 Tenerife crash in Spain. The KLM and the Pan Am aircraft crashed after the Dutch pilot said at takeoff to the Spanish controller, meaning he was taking off, since one way to express gerund in his mother language (Dutch) is through a preposition + verb — at + verb. The controller understood the utterance as an indication of his position, i.e., at takeoff point and did not challenge it, which was understood by the pilot as a clearance for takeoff, and ended up causing the loss of 583 lives. The misfortune is also attributed to other contributing causes, such as original airport disruption, busy airport conditions, fog, and others. However, the utterance at takeoff is the trigger of the crash.

Avianca 052 illustrates the problem of language as a contributing factor. It took place in NYC in 1990, with 73 casualties. The main cause was fuel exhaustion. After having to orbit longer than expected, the crew failed to communicate it was on emergency fuel, not on minimum fuel. ATC, unaware of the real emergency, did not prioritize landing.

A number of other incidents and accidents have been caused by miscommunication. Research has been conducted in order to improve our understanding of specific language issues that may trigger miscommunication. Professor Elizabeth Mathews has founded the LHUFT Center (Language as a Human Factor in Aviation), at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, so to promote studies that support that language plays a crucial part in operations and it should not be underrated. It is actually taken for granted in contexts we know people needed to master it but they can barely keep the basics of an interaction. Some of the studies in this line can be found in this book.

After crashes such as Avianca 052, and Charkhi-Dadri, in 1996, a group of specialists has been formed by ICAO in order to discuss and establish standards to regulate the use of English in aviation. The Proficiency Requirements in Common English Study Group (PRICESG) put some of these standards in a manual so to offer guidelines for professionals - the Manual on the implementation if ICAO Language Proficiency Requirements, or DOC 9835[ 4 ], has been taken as a bible by specialists in the area: it had its first edition released in 2003 and the last one in 2010.

The manual sets six language proficiency skills, presented in a pyramid:

Figure 1. A pyramid structure of language proficiency

Source: DOC 9835 p. 30

Structure, pronunciation and vocabulary are placed at the bottom because they are the basic elements of language that need to be mastered in order for someone to develop comprehension and fluency skills. Interaction is at the top – it is the actual result of the operation of all the other skills put together when aviation professionals engage in conversation.

The manual provides a number of orientations to guide the practice of teachers, trainers, testers and raters.

The Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs) for aeronautical communications are a set of orientations that aim to ensure that the language proficiency of pilots and air traffic controllers is sufficient to reduce miscommunication as much as possible (p. 41). They can be found in the appendices and annexes in the manual. There are recommended practices related to language use in radiotelephony communications (Annex 10), to proficiency skill level requirements (Annex I) and to the responsibilities of the service provider or operators (Annexes 6 and 11)

The Language Proficiency Requirements (LPRs) consist of descriptors that provide characteristics of proficient speakers. The Holistic Descriptors are designed as a frame of reference for trainers and assessors to be able to make consistent judgements about pilot and controller language proficiency (p.45). According to the five holistic descriptors, proficiente speakers shall:

Communicate effectively in voice-only communications (radio telephony) and in face-to- face situations;

Communicate on common, concrete and work-related topics with accuracy and clarity;

Use appropriate communicative strategies to exchange messages and to recognize and resolve misunderstandings;

Handle successfully and with ease the linguistic challenges presented by a complication or unexpected turn of events that occurs within the context of routine work situation or communication taks which they are otherwise familiar; and

Use a dialect or accent which is intelligible to the aeronautical community.

(Doc 9835. P.45)

As said before, all pilots flying internationally must conform to ICAO regulations and show a minimum of operational proficiency in English. The ICAO rating scale is based on the six skills and puts the following levels:

Pre-Operational 3

Operational 4

Extended 5

Expert 6

The manual describes each level for each skill in detail. Level 4 is considered to be operational, that is, allowed to fly in international space for showing the minimum proficiency required in each skill.[ 5 ]

The ICAO member states are in charge of regulating, enforcing and applying the tests in each country so to ensure safety. This is why tests are not the same. They are very similar in the extent they follow the same orientations, but they have to comply with peculiarities of each aviation authority.

In Brazil, as already mentioned, there is the SDEA (Santos Dumont English Assessment) which features four parts addressing the six ICAO skills through listening and speaking. [ 6 ] It is undeniable that the teaching of a sort of