Aeronautical English: Investigating the nature of this specific language in search of new heights

Abstract

Inglês aeronáutico: investigando a natureza dessa língua/linguagem em busca de novas altitudes Patrícia TOSQUI-LUCKS (USP/ICEA) 1 Ana Lígia Barbosa de Carvalho e SILVA (UNICAMP) 2 ABSTRACT Global communication for professional purposes has opened up new research avenues on English language use in aviation contexts, a growing area of interest in Applied Linguistics. The purpose of this paper is to better understand the nature of the language referred to by the terms aviation English and aeronautical English-and demonstrate how their definitions-and perceptions-can influence the language teaching and assessment for aeronautical communications between pilots and air traffic controllers (ATCOs). To this end, initially, we review the literature to identify what has been researched about the topic. Then, we discuss some problems regarding aeronautical English teaching and assessment that are still unsolved, or have been taken for granted. The expected contribution is to shed some light on what, in fact, should be taught and assessed in this scenario, for better and safer international aeronautical communications.

Overcoming Challenges in English for Aviation Maintenance: Technical Publications Selection for the Construction of a Corpus and Its Use to Teach Language Aspects Considering Learners Needs

“…Aviation English is a broad term, but it is usually adopted to refer to the language used between pilots and air traffic controllers in international radiotelephony communications and this specific usage definitely does not encompass all the language varieties used by the different professionals of the area. Like in Tosqui-Lucks and Silva [5], throughout this paper, aviation English is used as the "umbrella term" while aeronautical English determines the language for communications that take place during a flight in an international context.…”