The Case for an Aviation English Screening Tool for US Flight Schools

Lynch, Jena; Porcellato, Adriana Mendes

doi:10.23925/2318-7115.2020v41i4a8

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…While there appears to be some overlap in the academic skills needed to attend a U.S. university and those needed to pursue flight training, there are critical differences. Lynch and Porcellato (2020) highlight the mismatch between the nuanced skills likely needed for flight training and the composite scores of popular tests like TOEFL and IELTS. These scores include flight training-irrelevant language skills, such as academic writing, which may mask areas of weakness in oral skills.…”

Section: Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As mentioned in a previous section, the FAA's AELS is one current measure in place to reduce the likelihood of English proficiency as a safety hazard. Lynch and Porcellato (2020) articulate the challenges facing the Designated Examiners, instructor pilots, and flight training institutions in assessing and monitoring flight students' English proficiency; namely that these persons responsible for compliance with the FAA AELS might have no training in language assessment, and they receive minimal guidance from the FAA on how to conduct and rate these high-stakes, safety-critical assessments. One solution to the challenge facing flight training programs is to screen NNES candidates before they begin flight training.…”

Section: Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Aviation English Assessment and Training

Fowler¹,

Matthews²,

Lynch³

et al. 2021

CARI

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Due to a significant global increase in demand for air travel, there has been a corresponding increase in demand for ab initio flight training. Thousands of international flight students seek admission to collegiate aviation programs in the United States and Canada every year. These international flight students come to the United States and Canada because flight training is nonexistent in their native countries. In fact, flight training in most of these countries is impossible due to airspace restrictions and onerous regulations. If there is flight training available in these countries, the cost is usually prohibitive compared to the cost in the United States and Canada. The requirements and recommendations for international aeronautical communications is described in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 10, Volume II which establishes the English language as the de facto language of international aviation. The majority of these international flight students are non-native English speakers (NNES) which can make it difficult for them to succeed in an already challenging academic environment. Inadequate English language proficiency is also a significant safety issue. Unfortunately, there are very few aviation English assessment programs available to evaluate NNES flight students for aviation English proficiency. There are also very few aviation English training programs available for those who are unable to demonstrate proficiency. This research seeks to answer two questions: Does inadequate aviation English proficiency continue to be a flight safety issue? Has compliance with the ICAO Language Proficiency Requirements (LPRs) helped, or has it contributed to this problem?

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Section: Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aviation English Assessment and Training

Fowler¹,

Matthews²,

Lynch³

et al. 2021

CARI

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Setting standards for a diagnostic test of aviation English for student pilots

Treadaway,

Read

2024

Language Testing

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Standard-setting is an essential component of test development, supporting the meaningfulness and appropriate interpretation of test scores. However, in the high-stakes testing environment of aviation, standard-setting studies are underexplored. To address this gap, we document two stages in the standard-setting procedures for the Overseas Flight Training Preparation Test (OFTPT), a diagnostic English test for ab initio pilots, aligned to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)’s Language Proficiency Rating Scale (LPRS). Performance-level descriptors (PLDs) were empirically generated in Stage 1 in collaboration with six subject matter experts (SMEs). These PLDs made explicit the correspondence between linguistic performance levels within the target language use domain and the ICAO scale. Findings suggest that the ICAO scale is not fine-grained enough to distinguish levels of linguistic readiness among ab initio pilots, nor does it adequately reflect the knowledge, skills, and abilities valued by SMEs within this domain. In Stage 2, 12 SMEs were recruited to set standards and were divided into two groups to investigate the replicability of Ebel method standard-setting procedures. Cut scores were determined for the OFTPT reading and listening tests, which were inferentially linked to the LPRS. There were no significant differences in the cut scores arrived at by both groups and reliability was excellent, suggesting that test users can have confidence in the standards set.

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Pilot training and English as a lingua franca: some implications for the design of Aviation English for ab initio flight training courses

Bieswanger

Prado

Roberts³

2020

TheESP

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Treinamento de voo e o inglês como lingua franca: recomendações para o desenvolvimento de cursos de inglês para aviação na formação inicial do aviador. Markus BIESWANGER (University of Bayreuth) 1 Malila Carvalho de Almeida PRADO (FJUT) 2 Jennifer ROBERTS (ERAU) 3 ABSTRACT This paper revisits discussions on needs assessment of language courses for non-native English speakers (NNES) prior to ab initio flight training, or initial flight training, in English-speaking environments. The growing need for pilots in areas of the world where English is traditionally not the native language of the population and the fact that many of them attend flight school in English-speaking countries have increased the demand for such courses. Important questions are what communicative competencies the future flight students need and how current research on English as a lingua Franca (ELF) can inform the design of English for flight training courses. The paper presents the results of a study based on semistructured interviews with six non-native speaking professional pilots who received ab initio training in English-speaking countries. The analysis suggests that NNES ab initio flight students need to be equipped with the right mix of communicative strategies often summarized as ELF awareness and a sufficient amount of English language proficiency.

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The Case for an Aviation English Screening Tool for US Flight Schools

Cited by 3 publications

References 7 publications

Aviation English Assessment and Training

Aviation English Assessment and Training

Setting standards for a diagnostic test of aviation English for student pilots

Pilot training and English as a lingua franca: some implications for the design of Aviation English for ab initio flight training courses

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