LANGUAGE EDUCATION FOR AB INITIO FLIGHT TRAINING A. ORR J . ROBERTS DIARY Outliers M. GLADWELL LANGUAGE GAP PART 1 PROF. E. MATTHEWS SPEAKING OUTSIDE THE BOX PART 2 PROF. E. MATTHEWS EFFECT OF L1 INFLUENCE IN INTERNATIONAL AVIATIONCOMMUNICATION H. KIM / R. BILLINGTON AVIATION ENGLISH AS A GLOBAL LINGUA FRANCA L. HAVRAN AVIATION ENGLISH LISTENING & REPEATING TASK J. TRIPPE AVIATION ENGLISH RESEARCH PROJECT DR. B. CLARK DIARY UNDERSTANDING AVIATION ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA H. KIM / C. ELDER H. KIM WHAT CONSTITUTES PROFESSIONALCOMMUNICATION IN AVIATION? PHRASEOLOGY STUDY IATA / IFALPA / IFATCA
Safety voice and safety listening during aviation accidents M. Noort, T. Reader, a. Gillespie. The ICAO English Language Proficiency Rating Scale Applied to Enroute Voice Communications of U.S. and Foreign Pilots V. PRINZO, A. THOMPSON NON NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKING CONTROLLERS COMMUNICATING WITH NATIVE SPEAKING PILOTS V. PRINZO DIARY AVIATION ENGLISH TRAINING FOR NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS DR. D. ESTIVAL LANGUAGE AWARENESS & INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION M. BIESWANGER DIARY Foreign pilots are failing at English — but so are the Brits M. SKAPINKER DIARY BILINGUALISM IN THE SKY DR. F GROSJEAN DIARY NOBODY SEEMS TO SPEAK ENGLISH HERE TODAY D. DOUGLAS WHAT SHOULD WE TEACH NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS? DR. D. ESTIVAL THE SAFETY ROLE OF NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS P. STEVENS DIARY EMERGENCY CALLS - MESSAGES OUT OF THE BLUE DR. J. MELL DIARY ACCOMMODATING TOWARDS YOUR AUDIENCE E. SWEENEY, Z. HUA WHAT IS NOT STANDARD IN REAL R/T DR. J. MELL
This report was commissioned by the UK CAA in 2017. It investigates pilot / air traffic controller communication issues as evidenced by Mandatory Occurrence Reports (MORs), and proposes best practices to reduce miscommunication. One of the key recommendations: • Emphasise to pilots and controllers, especially native English speakers, the importance of using ICAO standard phraseology (instead of ‘plain language’) whenever possible. British pilots and air traffic controllers “play a significant part in language -related miscommunication”.
AVIATION ENGLISH RESEARCH PROJECT DR. B. CLARK
Two reports looking at the role language may have played in the 2006 collision of an Embraer Legacy 600 and a Boeing 737-800 over the Amazon rain forest.
LANGUAGE GAP PART 1 PROF. E. MATTHEWS SPEAKING OUTSIDE THE BOX PART 2 PROF. E. MATTHEWS
This article from 2018 explores the issues of pronunciation and comprehension in the English as a lingua franca (ELF) context of pilot-ATC RTF communication. L1-influenced pronunciation is one of the major factors causing miscommunication.
EFFECT OF L1 INFLUENCE IN INTERNATIONAL AVIATIONCOMMUNICATION H. KIM / R. BILLINGTON
Dr. François Grosjean interviews Dr. Judith Burki-Cohen. “In addition to readback and hearback errors, there are many reasons why communication breakdowns happen. Faulty English is just one of them and restricted to areas with international flights or pilots. Use of non- standard phraseology may or may not be due to lack of English proficiency”. First published on Psychology Today on 15 March 2017.
DIARY BILINGUALISM IN THE SKY DR. F GROSJEAN
Research with Korean aviation personnel. “Responsibilities for communication problems in aviation English are distributed across NS and NNS users.”
DIARY UNDERSTANDING AVIATION ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA H. KIM / C. ELDER
This article makes the case that Aviation English should be considered as a Lingua Franca. The author advocates training with a focus on: • Practising intercultural communication skills • Simple speech without redundant information • Understanding different accents (of both NS’s and NNS’s)
AVIATION ENGLISH AS A GLOBAL LINGUA FRANCA L. HAVRAN
This article from 1993 examines initial emergency calls and offers strategies to improve RTF communications in such cases.
DIARY EMERGENCY CALLS - MESSAGES OUT OF THE BLUE DR. J. MELL
“… the lack of language awareness on the part of a number of controllers and pilots who are native speakers of English adversely affects effective and efficient controller-pilot communications.”
LANGUAGE AWARENESS & INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION M. BIESWANGER
This is a 2019 study of Aviation English intelligibility for non-native and native English speaking pilots.
AVIATION ENGLISH LISTENING & REPEATING TASK J. TRIPPE
A 2018 analysis of a 17-minute segment of RTF communication between a Russian pilot and a Korean controller.
H. KIM WHAT CONSTITUTES PROFESSIONALCOMMUNICATION IN AVIATION?
This report presents an analysis of: • 2070 Pilots survey responses • 568 Air Traffic Controllers survey responses The scope of the study was communication and the use of non-standard phraseology between Pilots and Controllers during all phases of flight.
PHRASEOLOGY STUDY IATA / IFALPA / IFATCA
‘Safety Voice’ is the act of speaking up about perceived hazards. The 2021 report concludes: “We showed that safety voice was near ubiquitous across historic accidents that posed fatal risk, whilst variation existed in the degree to which safety voice dominated conversations. This underscores the role of risk perception as a trigger for safety voice, and indicates that the literature can no longer assume that safety voice is sufficient for avoiding harm or that the behaviour is absent during accidents”.
Safety voice and safety listening during aviation accidents M. Noort, T. Reader, a. Gillespie.
In an earlier study, the authors found that language proficiency was a factor for 66/90 (73%) communication problems among foreign aircraft and for 56/191 (29%) involving U.S. aircraft. This 2009 report examines the level of language proficiency among these controllers and pilots.
The ICAO English Language Proficiency Rating Scale Applied to Enroute Voice Communications of U.S. and Foreign Pilots V. PRINZO, A. THOMPSON
This 2014 report states: “… in no country are native speakers of English tested for their ability to employ what has been termed "interactional competence" when using English for intercultural communication. Problems with this situation are reviewed and suggestions made for improving English assessment and training”.
DIARY NOBODY SEEMS TO SPEAK ENGLISH HERE TODAY D. DOUGLAS
This 2017 article was published on ft.com. “While foreign pilots and controllers need to improve their English, so do their British counterparts”.
DIARY Foreign pilots are failing at English — but so are the Brits M. SKAPINKER
This 2011 report is a compilation of written responses and comments by a group of 48 U.S. pilots of their difficulties in international operations. The recommendations include: 1) Research is needed to determine the optimal speech rate for ATC messages. 2) ATC messages must be delivered using standard ICAO terms and phraseology.
NON NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKING CONTROLLERS COMMUNICATING WITH NATIVE SPEAKING PILOTS V, PRINZO
This paper follows a workshop at the ICAEA Conference in 2018. “.. training for NES pilots should include comprehension of a variety of accents and an understanding of the difficulties EL2 pilots may experience”.
WHAT SHOULD WE TEACH NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS? DR. D. ESTIVAL
In this 2019 report, the author writes: “The main recommendation is for mandatory training and testing of aviation phraseology and communication procedures for NES pilots and Air Traffic Controllers. Training should include language awareness and testing should include understanding of NNES transmissions and production of transmissions intelligible by NNES”.
DIARY AVIATION ENGLISH TRAINING FOR NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS DR. D. ESTIVAL
This 2012 study “demonstrates that crew members in the cockpit and in the cabin too often choose silence over speaking up in situations where they potentially risk their and other people’s lives”.
SILENCE THAT MAY KILL N BIENEFELD G. GROTE
This study asks: Do native speakers of English know how to accommodate their communication strategies toward non-native speakers of English? “The most striking finding was the imbalance between the native speakers’ understanding of the issues of intercultural communication and their inability to effectively accommodate nonnative speakers.“
DIARY ACCOMMODATING TOWARDS YOUR AUDIENCE E. SWEENEY, Z. HUA
This paper presents an analysis of 7,OOO pilot and controller messages. “Analysis of the speech acts reveals that only one third, in the form of instructions and information, are directly concerned with the management of aircraft movements, while two thirds are devoted to the management of the communication itself”.
WHAT IS NOT STANDARD IN REAL R/T DR. J. MELL
This 2022 report presents the finding of surveys with 1,974 aviation professionals from 112 countries. “Do you think that aviation safety is ever compromised because of the way native speakers use English?” Yes 65% No 24% I don’t know 11%
THE SAFETY ROLE OF NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS P. STEVENS

Academic papers, reports

& presentations

A selection of research about Aviation English, specifically focusing on communication between native and non-native English speakers, culture, empathy and assertiveness
Standard and Nonstandard Lexicon in Aviation English: A Corpus Linguistic Study R. FERRER Standard and Nonstandard Lexicon in Aviation English: A Corpus Linguistic Study R. FERRER
This study investigates lexical items in aviation phraseology with standard and non-standard definitions - these are hold short, go ahead, affirm and priority.

PILOT NOT USING

STANDARD PHRASEOLOGY

- MISUNDERSTANDINGS

AND DELAYS

D. ESTIVAL, M. PRADO,

N. ISHIHARA

G

E

I

A

G

E

I

A

HAVE ASSUMPTIONS

OUTLIVED THEIR

USELESSNESS IN HOW WE

UNDERSTAND R/T

COMMUNICATION?

J. DRAYTON

A presentation from the GEIA conference in 2022. Jenny Drayton discusses the sometimes-blurred division between Standard Phraseology and Plain English.
A presentation from the GEIA conference in 2022. The presenters discuss a real-life R/T exchange featuring a Japanese air traffic controlelr

PILOT NOT USING

STANDARD PHRASEOLOGY

- MISUNDERSTANDINGS

AND DELAYS

D. ESTIVAL, M. PRADO,

N. ISHIHARA

G

E

I

A

G

E

I

A

HAVE ASSUMPTIONS

OUTLIVED THEIR

USELESSNESS IN HOW WE

UNDERSTAND R/T

COMMUNICATION?

J. DRAYTON

J. DRAYTON

LANGUAGE EDUCATION FOR AB INITIO FLIGHT TRAINING A. ORR J . ROBERTS
From ERAU Scholarly Commons (here). With the predicted growth in aviation over the coming years, the need for effective and efficient English training for ab initio pilots becomes increasingly inmportant.
Chapter 7 of this book is called The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes.Gladwell makes the case that when it comes to plane crashes, where the pilots are from matters as much as how well they are trained
DIARY Outliers M. GLADWELL
Two reports looking at speech rates of US air traffic controllers
An Analysis of U.S. Air Traffic Controllers’ Speech Speed Rates NITTA Haruhiko, OKAZAKI Hironobu Walter KLINGER Speech Speed Rates of US ATCOS in Communications with Non-Native English-Speaking Pilots NITTA Haruhiko, OKAZAKI Hironobu Walter KLINGER KIDO Kazuhiko An Analysis of U.S. Air Traffic Controllers’ Speech Speed Rates NITTA Haruhiko, OKAZAKI Hironobu Walter KLINGER Speech Speed Rates of US ATCOS in Communications with Non-Native English-Speaking Pilots NITTA Haruhiko, OKAZAKI Hironobu Walter KLINGER KIDO Kazuhiko
LANGUAGE EDUCATION FOR AB INITIO FLIGHT TRAINING A. ORR J . ROBERTS LANGUAGE GAP PART 1 PROF. E. MATTHEWS SPEAKING OUTSIDE THE BOX PART 2 PROF. E. MATTHEWS EFFECT OF L1 INFLUENCE IN INTERNATIONAL AVIATIONCOMMUNICATION H. KIM / R. BILLINGTON AVIATION ENGLISH AS A GLOBAL LINGUA FRANCA L. HAVRAN AVIATION ENGLISH LISTENING & REPEATING TASK J. TRIPPE AVIATION ENGLISH RESEARCH PROJECT DR. B. CLARK H. KIM WHAT CONSTITUTES PROFESSIONALCOMMUNICATION IN AVIATION? PHRASEOLOGY STUDY IATA / IFALPA / IFATCA
Safety voice and safety listening during aviation accidents M. Noort, T. Reader, a. Gillespie. The ICAO English Language Proficiency Rating Scale Applied to Enroute Voice Communications of U.S. and Foreign Pilots V. PRINZO, A. THOMPSON NON NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKING CONTROLLERS COMMUNICATING WITH NATIVE SPEAKING PILOTS V. PRINZO DIARY AVIATION ENGLISH TRAINING FOR NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS DR. D. ESTIVAL DIARY Foreign pilots are failing at English — but so are the Brits M. SKAPINKER DIARY BILINGUALISM IN THE SKY DR. F GROSJEAN DIARY NOBODY SEEMS TO SPEAK ENGLISH HERE TODAY D. DOUGLAS WHAT SHOULD WE TEACH NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS? DR. D. ESTIVAL THE SAFETY ROLE OF NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS P. STEVENS DIARY EMERGENCY CALLS - MESSAGES OUT OF THE BLUE DR. J. MELL DIARY ACCOMMODATING TOWARDS YOUR AUDIENCE E. SWEENEY, Z. HUA WHAT IS NOT STANDARD IN REAL R/T DR. J. MELL
This report was commissioned by the UK CAA in 2017. It investigates pilot / air traffic controller communication issues as evidenced by Mandatory Occurrence Reports (MORs), and proposes best practices to reduce miscommunication. One of the key recommendations: • Emphasise to pilots and controllers, especially native English speakers, the importance of using ICAO standard phraseology (instead of ‘plain language’) whenever possible. British pilots and air traffic controllers “play a significant part in language -related miscommunication”.
AVIATION ENGLISH RESEARCH PROJECT DR. B. CLARK
Two reports looking at the role language may have played in the 2006 collision of an Embraer Legacy 600 and a Boeing 737-800 over the Amazon rain forest.
LANGUAGE GAP PART 1 PROF. E. MATTHEWS SPEAKING OUTSIDE THE BOX PART 2 PROF. E. MATTHEWS
This article from 2018 explores the issues of pronunciation and comprehension in the English as a lingua franca (ELF) context of pilot-ATC RTF communication. L1-influenced pronunciation is one of the major factors causing miscommunication.
EFFECT OF L1 INFLUENCE IN INTERNATIONAL AVIATIONCOMMUNICATION H. KIM / R. BILLINGTON
Dr. François Grosjean interviews Dr. Judith Burki-Cohen. “In addition to readback and hearback errors, there are many reasons why communication breakdowns happen. Faulty English is just one of them and restricted to areas with international flights or pilots. Use of non-standard phraseology may or may not be due to lack of English proficiency”. First published on Psychology Today on 15 March 2017.
DIARY BILINGUALISM IN THE SKY DR. F GROSJEAN
Research with Korean aviation personnel. “Responsibilities for communication problems in aviation English are distributed across NS and NNS users.”
DIARY UNDERSTANDING AVIATION ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA H. KIM / C. ELDER
This article makes the case that Aviation English should be considered as a Lingua Franca. The author advocates training with a focus on: • Practising intercultural communication skills • Simple speech without redundant information • Understanding different accents (of both NS’s and NNS’s)
AVIATION ENGLISH AS A GLOBAL LINGUA FRANCA L. HAVRAN
This article from 1993 examines initial emergency calls and offers strategies to improve RTF communications in such cases.
DIARY EMERGENCY CALLS - MESSAGES OUT OF THE BLUE DR. J. MELL
“… the lack of language awareness on the part of a number of controllers and pilots who are native speakers of English adversely affects effective and efficient controller-pilot communications.”
LANGUAGE AWARENESS & INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION M. BIESWANGER
This is a 2019 study of Aviation English intelligibility for non-native and native English speaking pilots.
AVIATION ENGLISH LISTENING & REPEATING TASK J. TRIPPE
A 2018 analysis of a 17-minute segment of RTF communication between a Russian pilot and a Korean controller.
H. KIM WHAT CONSTITUTES PROFESSIONALCOMMUNICATION IN AVIATION?
This report presents an analysis of: • 2070 Pilots survey responses • 568 Air Traffic Controllers survey responses The scope of the study was communication and the use of non-standard phraseology between Pilots and Controllers during all phases of flight.
PHRASEOLOGY STUDY IATA / IFALPA / IFATCA
‘Safety Voice’ is the act of speaking up about perceived hazards. The 2021 report concludes: “We showed that safety voice was near ubiquitous across historic accidents that posed fatal risk, whilst variation existed in the degree to which safety voice dominated conversations. This underscores the role of risk perception as a trigger for safety voice, and indicates that the literature can no longer assume that safety voice is sufficient for avoiding harm or that the behaviour is absent during accidents”.
Safety voice and safety listening during aviation accidents M. Noort, T. Reader, a. Gillespie.
In an earlier study, the authors found that language proficiency was a factor for 66/90 (73%) communication problems among foreign aircraft and for 56/191 (29%) involving U.S. aircraft. This 2009 report examines the level of language proficiency among these controllers and pilots.
The ICAO English Language Proficiency Rating Scale Applied to Enroute Voice Communications of U.S. and Foreign Pilots V. PRINZO, A. THOMPSON
This 2014 report states: “… in no country are native speakers of English tested for their ability to employ what has been termed "interactional competence" when using English for intercultural communication. Problems with this situation are reviewed and suggestions made for improving English assessment and training”.
DIARY NOBODY SEEMS TO SPEAK ENGLISH HERE TODAY D. DOUGLAS
This 2017 article was published on ft.com. “While foreign pilots and controllers need to improve their English, so do their British counterparts”.
DIARY Foreign pilots are failing at English — but so are the Brits M. SKAPINKER
This 2011 report is a compilation of written responses and comments by a group of 48 U.S. pilots of their difficulties in international operations. The recommendations include: 1) Research is needed to determine the optimal speech rate for ATC messages. 2) ATC messages must be delivered using standard ICAO terms and phraseology.
NON NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKING CONTROLLERS COMMUNICATING WITH NATIVE SPEAKING PILOTS V, PRINZO
This paper follows a workshop at the ICAEA Conference in 2018. “.. training for NES pilots should include comprehension of a variety of accents and an understanding of the difficulties EL2 pilots may experience”.
WHAT SHOULD WE TEACH NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS? DR. D. ESTIVAL
In this 2019 report, the author writes: “The main recommendation is for mandatory training and testing of aviation phraseology and communication procedures for NES pilots and Air Traffic Controllers. Training should include language awareness and testing should include understanding of NNES transmissions and production of transmissions intelligible by NNES”.
DIARY AVIATION ENGLISH TRAINING FOR NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS DR. D. ESTIVAL
This 2012 study “demonstrates that crew members in the cockpit and in the cabin too often choose silence over speaking up in situations where they potentially risk their and other people’s lives”.
SILENCE THAT MAY KILL N BIENEFELD G. GROTE
This study asks: Do native speakers of English know how to accommodate their communication strategies toward non-native speakers of English? “The most striking finding was the imbalance between the native speakers’ understanding of the issues of intercultural communication and their inability to effectively accommodate nonnative speakers.“
DIARY ACCOMMODATING TOWARDS YOUR AUDIENCE E. SWEENEY, Z. HUA
This paper presents an analysis of 7,OOO pilot and controller messages. “Analysis of the speech acts reveals that only one third, in the form of instructions and information, are directly concerned with the management of aircraft movements, while two thirds are devoted to the management of the communication itself”.
WHAT IS NOT STANDARD IN REAL R/T DR. J. MELL
This 2022 report presents the finding of surveys with 1,974 aviation professionals from 112 countries. “Do you think that aviation safety is ever compromised because of the way native speakers use English?” Yes 65% No 24% I don’t know 11%
THE SAFETY ROLE OF NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS P. STEVENS

Academic papers, reports

& presentations

A selection of research about Aviation English, specifically focusing on communication between native and non-native English speakers, culture, empathy and assertiveness
Standard and Nonstandard Lexicon in Aviation English: A Corpus Linguistic Study R. FERRER
This study investigates lexical items in aviation phraseology with standard and non-standard definitions - these are hold short, go ahead, affirm and priority.

G

E

I

A

HAVE ASSUMPTIONS

OUTLIVED THEIR

USELESSNESS IN HOW WE

UNDERSTAND R/T

COMMUNICATION?

J. DRAYTON

A presentation from the GEIA conference in 2022. Jenny Drayton discusses the sometimes-blurred division between Standard Phraseology and Plain English.

PILOT NOT USING

STANDARD PHRASEOLOGY

- MISUNDERSTANDINGS

AND DELAYS

D. ESTIVAL, M. PRADO,

N. ISHIHARA

G

E

I

A

A presentation from the GEIA conference in 2022. The presenters discuss a real-life R/T exchange featuring a Japanese air traffic controller.

G

E

I

A

HAVE ASSUMPTIONS

OUTLIVED THEIR

USELESSNESS IN HOW WE

UNDERSTAND R/T

COMMUNICATION?

PILOT NOT USING

STANDARD PHRASEOLOGY

- MISUNDERSTANDINGS

AND DELAYS

G

E

I

A

J. DRAYTON

D. ESTIVAL, M. PRADO,

N. ISHIHARA

SILENCE THAT MAY KILL N BIENEFELD G. GROTE LANGUAGE AWARENESS & INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION M. BIESWANGER Standard and Nonstandard Lexicon in Aviation English: A Corpus Linguistic Study R. FERRER
From ERAU Scholarly Commons (here). With the predicted growth in aviation over the coming years, the need for effective and efficient English training for ab initio pilots becomes increasingly inmportant.
LANGUAGE EDUCATION FOR AB INITIO FLIGHT TRAINING J . ROBERTS A. ORR
Chapter 7 of this book is called The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes.Gladwell makes the case that when it comes to plane crashes, where the pilots are from matters as much as how well they are trained
DIARY Outliers M. GLADWELL DIARY Outliers M. GLADWELL DIARY UNDERSTANDING AVIATION ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA H. KIM / C. ELDER
Two reports looking at speech rates of US air traffic controllers
An Analysis of U.S. Air Traffic Controllers’ Speech Speed Rates NITTA Haruhiko, OKAZAKI Hironobu Walter KLINGER Speech Speed Rates of US ATCOS in Communications with Non-Native English-Speaking Pilots NITTA Haruhiko, OKAZAKI Hironobu Walter KLINGER KIDO Kazuhiko An Analysis of U.S. Air Traffic Controllers’ Speech Speed Rates NITTA Haruhiko, OKAZAKI Hironobu Walter KLINGER Speech Speed Rates of US ATCOS in Communications with Non-Native English-Speaking Pilots NITTA Haruhiko, OKAZAKI Hironobu Walter KLINGER KIDO Kazuhiko