The Role Of English Language In The Aviation Industry Amir Azarin Civil Aviation Training Center 1
EVERYBODY S CHILDHOOD DREAM It s in every child s dream, at one time or another. TO BE AN AIRLINE PILOT 2
Overview the English language and aviation An introduction to the aviation English ICAO Language Proficiency Standards Aviation alphabets Communication Miscommunication Incidents and accidents Conclusion References 3
The Role Of English Language In The Aviation Industry English is a language which is the most dominant one being used globally, and its importance cannot be denied. No one can disagree to the fact that knowing English has become a necessity, today. What does aviation mean? 4
Introduction to the aviation language English was made a common language of the aviation world in 1951 and this includes the ability to speak, write, and understand in aviation navigations, maps and charts, electronics, instrumentations, hydraulics, air traffic regulations and more. The International Civil Aviation Organisation has decreed that from 1 January 2008 all Air Traffic Controllers and Flight Crew Members engaged in or in contact with international flights must be proficient in the English language as a general spoken medium. 5
ICAO Language Proficiency Standards In order to conform with ICAO Language Proficiency requirements, Pilots, Air Traffic Controllers and all others who use English in communication on international routes must be at ICAO English Language Level 4 (Operational) or above 6
Aviation Alphabet The International Civil Aviation Organization's alphabet is an international phonetic alphabet used by pilots, air traffic controllers and customer service agents in the airline industry.in the world of aviation, there is a different way of learning your ABC's. 7
It s a lifestyle that s worth living I Think It s Just The Perfect Job But It s A Lifestyle, It s Not Only A Job 8
Communication Communicative competence specifically in aviation means that pilots, air traffic controllers, mechanics, and ground crews can exchange important information in mutually intelligible messages. For aviation communication to be successful 9
Miscommunication Many aviation accidents/incidents are attributed to human errors, of which problems in communication is one large category. Within communication problems in aviation, language-based problems is one large aspect 10
KLM Panam Boeing Collision CVR Transcript 11
Incidents and accidents Aviation accidents have always fascinated the public, and flying is feared by thousands of people. For many years it has been recognized that communication problems are implicated in many aviation accidents and in runway incursions 12
The accidents involved in english language 13
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Conclusion A suitable conclusion for this article, perhaps, is a quotation from Andy Roberts wish list for 2014, which neatly summarizes the key issues needing Urgent attention: 1. To continue raising the standards of Aviation English levels of Pilots and controllers worldwide. 2. To have a mechanism to check that tests and training do what they Claim to do. 18
References Adventures of an African bush pilot. (2000, June). Presented at the Chicago area chapter of the Ninety-Nines. An outline of process by which PRICESG proposals are brought to the ICAO Council. (2001, May). Presented at the meeting of the Proficiency Requirements in Common English Study Group, Luxembourg. Churcher, G. E., Atwell, E. S. & Souter, C. (1997). The semantic/pragmatic annotation of an air traffic control corpus for use in speech recognition. In Ljung & Magnus (Eds.), Corpus-based studies in English: Papers from the seventeenth international conference on English language research on computerized corpora (ICAME 17) Stockholm, May 15-19, 1996 (pp. 353-373). Amsterdam: Rodopi. Clinch, P. (2000). Existing systems provide essential communications while development of data link carries on. ICAO Journal, 55(7), 16-17, 29-30. Crystal, D. (1997).Why English? The cultural legacy. In English as a global language (pp. 78-112). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Douglas, D. (2000). Assessing languages for specific purposes. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Dyck, A. (personal communication, December 8, 2001). Feldman, J. M. (1998). Speaking with one voice. Air Transport World, 35(11), 42-51. Hunter, M. & O'Brien, K. (2002, March). Aviation communications seminar. Seminar conducted at the Women in Aviation International Conference, Nashville, TN. MacPherson, M. (Ed.). (1998). The black box: All-new cockpit voice recorder accounts of in-flight accidents. New York: William Morrow. Mathews, E. (2001). Provisions for proficiency in common aviation language to be strengthened. ICAO Journal, 56(3), 24-26, 41. Mathews, E. (personal communication, March 26, 2002). 19