READ TEXT II AND ANSWER QUESTION:

TEXT II

AVIATION ENGLISH TEACHING MATERIALS AND

RESOURCES

What kind of aviation English training materials would teachers and trainees like to have when the objective is to reach and maintain operational level in aviation English? We would all like the magic English potion – take two spoonfuls daily for 10 days and Bingo, you’re bilingual. Some of the language training programmes proposed nowadays seem to me to be just as unrealistic. The length of English language training courses has been inexorably whittled down from 4 or more intensive weeks, to a flimsy 2-day module. The word “module” often covers a multitude of cost-cutting sins. Bite sized English courses.

The question I want to consider now is what are appropriate aviation English training materials?

That depends very much on the kind of training envisaged. There are many variables a few of which are:

the trainees the hardware the organisation of the courses in time and space the teachers the money available to pay for training

First let’s look at the trainees

Who are they?

Are they controllers or pilots? Unfortunately it is rare, indeed almost unheard of to have both professional categories together. The advantages in the language classroom of having representatives of both sides of the pilot-controller dialogue would be immense. One would no longer have to ask a participant to take the other’s role in a dialogue, or the other’s point of view in a discussion. However since civilian pilots and controllers usually work for different organisations, the idea seems impracticable….

The main question here is how much experience they have with the world of aviation, and whether they can develop their own materials.

A well-trained teacher can always learn from the aviation environment in which they work – we all started that way. Aviation is a sufficiently interesting subject per se. Teachers with little aviation experience may have a fear of not being credible in particular if they are with trainees new to the job. The teachers think that the trainees think they ought to be experts in aviation. The teacher’s field is the language. In some circumstances team teaching is possible with a language teacher and a subject teacher. This can be very rewarding with each teacher observing the other’s input.

The English teacher should not confuse teaching the language (English) with teaching the subject (Aviation), and I would argue the proficient language teacher should be able to teach professionals in most fields. But you cannot expect a teacher new to aviation to immediately start producing teaching materials... Many students complain about a lack of vocabulary. This may be a false problem. By trying to translate in their heads and find the exact turn of phrase they have in mind, they are inhibiting the use of the words they do know. It’s a way of thinking to accept that you cannot be the complete sophisticated adult person in the language you are learning and to learn to say complex things with the simple words you have at your disposal.

Having said that, the aviation English course does have to teach a solid amount of terminology. This should be contextualised in pictures and/or texts with recordings of the correct pronunciation. It has to be practiced and reviewed more than once. It takes quite a lot of practice to internalise new words. Since most aviation English practice is oral, pronunciation practice should be part of every lesson. Not just the sounds, or phonemes, but also the rhythms. The correct accentuation of longer words is essential for comprehensibility, and an awareness of how the English language puts emphasis on the important words in a phrase and then “swallows” the rest is important for understanding spoken English. One French pilot was blown away by his first contact with real North American English at his hotel when ordering eggs for breakfast. The question “How ye wan yer eggs?” corresponded very little to his idea of the pronunciation of “How do you want your eggs?” What had his English teachers been teaching him all these years? Let me emphasise it is not necessary to speak Oxford, BBC or Boston English. Foreign accents are part of the personality of the speaker – I still speak French with an English, maybe a Scottish accent after more than 30 years. But it is necessary to be understood and to understand. Pronunciation and oral comprehension are very closely related. Someone who pronounces badly will have problems understanding.

(adapted from http://www.bigmag.co.uk/main/static/site/1957/download/14- Robertson.pdf on March 9th, 2007)

According to the text, an aviation language instructor:

READ TEXT II AND ANSWER QUESTION:

TEXT II

AVIATION ENGLISH TEACHING MATERIALS AND

RESOURCES

What kind of aviation English training materials would teachers and trainees like to have when the objective is to reach and maintain operational level in aviation English? We would all like the magic English potion – take two spoonfuls daily for 10 days and Bingo, you’re bilingual. Some of the language training programmes proposed nowadays seem to me to be just as unrealistic. The length of English language training courses has been inexorably whittled down from 4 or more intensive weeks, to a flimsy 2-day module. The word “module” often covers a multitude of cost-cutting sins. Bite sized English courses.

The question I want to consider now is what are appropriate aviation English training materials?

That depends very much on the kind of training envisaged. There are many variables a few of which are:

the trainees the hardware the organisation of the courses in time and space the teachers the money available to pay for training

First let’s look at the trainees

Who are they?

Are they controllers or pilots? Unfortunately it is rare, indeed almost unheard of to have both professional categories together. The advantages in the language classroom of having representatives of both sides of the pilot-controller dialogue would be immense. One would no longer have to ask a participant to take the other’s role in a dialogue, or the other’s point of view in a discussion. However since civilian pilots and controllers usually work for different organisations, the idea seems impracticable….

The main question here is how much experience they have with the world of aviation, and whether they can develop their own materials.

A well-trained teacher can always learn from the aviation environment in which they work – we all started that way. Aviation is a sufficiently interesting subject per se. Teachers with little aviation experience may have a fear of not being credible in particular if they are with trainees new to the job. The teachers think that the trainees think they ought to be experts in aviation. The teacher’s field is the language. In some circumstances team teaching is possible with a language teacher and a subject teacher. This can be very rewarding with each teacher observing the other’s input.

The English teacher should not confuse teaching the language (English) with teaching the subject (Aviation), and I would argue the proficient language teacher should be able to teach professionals in most fields. But you cannot expect a teacher new to aviation to immediately start producing teaching materials... Many students complain about a lack of vocabulary. This may be a false problem. By trying to translate in their heads and find the exact turn of phrase they have in mind, they are inhibiting the use of the words they do know. It’s a way of thinking to accept that you cannot be the complete sophisticated adult person in the language you are learning and to learn to say complex things with the simple words you have at your disposal.

Having said that, the aviation English course does have to teach a solid amount of terminology. This should be contextualised in pictures and/or texts with recordings of the correct pronunciation. It has to be practiced and reviewed more than once. It takes quite a lot of practice to internalise new words. Since most aviation English practice is oral, pronunciation practice should be part of every lesson. Not just the sounds, or phonemes, but also the rhythms. The correct accentuation of longer words is essential for comprehensibility, and an awareness of how the English language puts emphasis on the important words in a phrase and then “swallows” the rest is important for understanding spoken English. One French pilot was blown away by his first contact with real North American English at his hotel when ordering eggs for breakfast. The question “How ye wan yer eggs?” corresponded very little to his idea of the pronunciation of “How do you want your eggs?” What had his English teachers been teaching him all these years? Let me emphasise it is not necessary to speak Oxford, BBC or Boston English. Foreign accents are part of the personality of the speaker – I still speak French with an English, maybe a Scottish accent after more than 30 years. But it is necessary to be understood and to understand. Pronunciation and oral comprehension are very closely related. Someone who pronounces badly will have problems understanding.

(adapted from http://www.bigmag.co.uk/main/static/site/1957/download/14- Robertson.pdf on March 9th, 2007)

The expression “take two spoonfuls daily” can be found in:

READ TEXT I AND ANSWER QUESTION:

High Stakes in Language Proficiency

In an effort to reduce accidents involving communication deficiencies, ICAO is requiring pilots, controllers and aeronautical station operators involved in international operations to be tested for their ability to speak and understand English. At stake are careers, industry investment in training and testing — and safety.

Concern about fatal accidents involving inadequate proficiency in the use and comprehension of English in pilot-controller communication has prompted the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to establish a baseline for language proficiency and requirements for testing. Current requirements are for initial testing to be completed by March 2008.

With the new standards has come the designation of English as the language of international pilotcontroller communication. “English has long played the role of a de facto common language for international aviation,” ICAO said. “The new provisions formalize that role.”

English is the native language or a widely used national language in about 60 countries and is a second language in many more countries, ICAO said. People who speak English as a second language or as a “foreign language” outnumber those who speak English as a first language.

Nevertheless, the designation of English for international radiotelephony (the transmission of speech by radio) has not been without controversy. “Because language is so closely tied to our sense of national and cultural identity, people are naturally sensitive to issues of language use and policy,” said Elizabeth Mathews, a specialist in applied linguistics and leader of an international group — the Proficiency Requirements in Common English Study Group (PRI CESG) — that developed English language proficiency standards for ICAO.

(adapted from http://208.37.5.10/fsd/fsd_jan-feb06.pdfFlight

Safety Foundation • FLIGHT SAFETY DIGE ST • JAnuary–February 2006 on March 9th, 1007)

The opposite of “closely” in “closely tied” is:

READ TEXT II AND ANSWER QUESTION:

TEXT II

AVIATION ENGLISH TEACHING MATERIALS AND

RESOURCES

What kind of aviation English training materials would teachers and trainees like to have when the objective is to reach and maintain operational level in aviation English? We would all like the magic English potion – take two spoonfuls daily for 10 days and Bingo, you’re bilingual. Some of the language training programmes proposed nowadays seem to me to be just as unrealistic. The length of English language training courses has been inexorably whittled down from 4 or more intensive weeks, to a flimsy 2-day module. The word “module” often covers a multitude of cost-cutting sins. Bite sized English courses.

The question I want to consider now is what are appropriate aviation English training materials?

That depends very much on the kind of training envisaged. There are many variables a few of which are:

the trainees the hardware the organisation of the courses in time and space the teachers the money available to pay for training

First let’s look at the trainees

Who are they?

Are they controllers or pilots? Unfortunately it is rare, indeed almost unheard of to have both professional categories together. The advantages in the language classroom of having representatives of both sides of the pilot-controller dialogue would be immense. One would no longer have to ask a participant to take the other’s role in a dialogue, or the other’s point of view in a discussion. However since civilian pilots and controllers usually work for different organisations, the idea seems impracticable….

The main question here is how much experience they have with the world of aviation, and whether they can develop their own materials.

A well-trained teacher can always learn from the aviation environment in which they work – we all started that way. Aviation is a sufficiently interesting subject per se. Teachers with little aviation experience may have a fear of not being credible in particular if they are with trainees new to the job. The teachers think that the trainees think they ought to be experts in aviation. The teacher’s field is the language. In some circumstances team teaching is possible with a language teacher and a subject teacher. This can be very rewarding with each teacher observing the other’s input.

The English teacher should not confuse teaching the language (English) with teaching the subject (Aviation), and I would argue the proficient language teacher should be able to teach professionals in most fields. But you cannot expect a teacher new to aviation to immediately start producing teaching materials... Many students complain about a lack of vocabulary. This may be a false problem. By trying to translate in their heads and find the exact turn of phrase they have in mind, they are inhibiting the use of the words they do know. It’s a way of thinking to accept that you cannot be the complete sophisticated adult person in the language you are learning and to learn to say complex things with the simple words you have at your disposal.

Having said that, the aviation English course does have to teach a solid amount of terminology. This should be contextualised in pictures and/or texts with recordings of the correct pronunciation. It has to be practiced and reviewed more than once. It takes quite a lot of practice to internalise new words. Since most aviation English practice is oral, pronunciation practice should be part of every lesson. Not just the sounds, or phonemes, but also the rhythms. The correct accentuation of longer words is essential for comprehensibility, and an awareness of how the English language puts emphasis on the important words in a phrase and then “swallows” the rest is important for understanding spoken English. One French pilot was blown away by his first contact with real North American English at his hotel when ordering eggs for breakfast. The question “How ye wan yer eggs?” corresponded very little to his idea of the pronunciation of “How do you want your eggs?” What had his English teachers been teaching him all these years? Let me emphasise it is not necessary to speak Oxford, BBC or Boston English. Foreign accents are part of the personality of the speaker – I still speak French with an English, maybe a Scottish accent after more than 30 years. But it is necessary to be understood and to understand. Pronunciation and oral comprehension are very closely related. Someone who pronounces badly will have problems understanding.

(adapted from http://www.bigmag.co.uk/main/static/site/1957/download/14- Robertson.pdf on March 9th, 2007)

A few in “a few of which are” means:

READ TEXT I AND ANSWER QUESTION:

High Stakes in Language Proficiency

In an effort to reduce accidents involving communication deficiencies, ICAO is requiring pilots, controllers and aeronautical station operators involved in international operations to be tested for their ability to speak and understand English. At stake are careers, industry investment in training and testing — and safety.

Concern about fatal accidents involving inadequate proficiency in the use and comprehension of English in pilot-controller communication has prompted the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to establish a baseline for language proficiency and requirements for testing. Current requirements are for initial testing to be completed by March 2008.

With the new standards has come the designation of English as the language of international pilotcontroller communication. “English has long played the role of a de facto common language for international aviation,” ICAO said. “The new provisions formalize that role.”

English is the native language or a widely used national language in about 60 countries and is a second language in many more countries, ICAO said. People who speak English as a second language or as a “foreign language” outnumber those who speak English as a first language.

Nevertheless, the designation of English for international radiotelephony (the transmission of speech by radio) has not been without controversy. “Because language is so closely tied to our sense of national and cultural identity, people are naturally sensitive to issues of language use and policy,” said Elizabeth Mathews, a specialist in applied linguistics and leader of an international group — the Proficiency Requirements in Common English Study Group (PRI CESG) — that developed English language proficiency standards for ICAO.

(adapted from http://208.37.5.10/fsd/fsd_jan-feb06.pdfFlight

Safety Foundation • FLIGHT SAFETY DIGE ST • JAnuary–February 2006 on March 9th, 1007)

The underlined word in “Current requirements can be replaced by:

READ TEXT II AND ANSWER QUESTION:

TEXT II

AVIATION ENGLISH TEACHING MATERIALS AND

RESOURCES

What kind of aviation English training materials would teachers and trainees like to have when the objective is to reach and maintain operational level in aviation English? We would all like the magic English potion – take two spoonfuls daily for 10 days and Bingo, you’re bilingual. Some of the language training programmes proposed nowadays seem to me to be just as unrealistic. The length of English language training courses has been inexorably whittled down from 4 or more intensive weeks, to a flimsy 2-day module. The word “module” often covers a multitude of cost-cutting sins. Bite sized English courses.

The question I want to consider now is what are appropriate aviation English training materials?

That depends very much on the kind of training envisaged. There are many variables a few of which are:

the trainees the hardware the organisation of the courses in time and space the teachers the money available to pay for training

First let’s look at the trainees

Who are they?

Are they controllers or pilots? Unfortunately it is rare, indeed almost unheard of to have both professional categories together. The advantages in the language classroom of having representatives of both sides of the pilot-controller dialogue would be immense. One would no longer have to ask a participant to take the other’s role in a dialogue, or the other’s point of view in a discussion. However since civilian pilots and controllers usually work for different organisations, the idea seems impracticable….

The main question here is how much experience they have with the world of aviation, and whether they can develop their own materials.

A well-trained teacher can always learn from the aviation environment in which they work – we all started that way. Aviation is a sufficiently interesting subject per se. Teachers with little aviation experience may have a fear of not being credible in particular if they are with trainees new to the job. The teachers think that the trainees think they ought to be experts in aviation. The teacher’s field is the language. In some circumstances team teaching is possible with a language teacher and a subject teacher. This can be very rewarding with each teacher observing the other’s input.

The English teacher should not confuse teaching the language (English) with teaching the subject (Aviation), and I would argue the proficient language teacher should be able to teach professionals in most fields. But you cannot expect a teacher new to aviation to immediately start producing teaching materials... Many students complain about a lack of vocabulary. This may be a false problem. By trying to translate in their heads and find the exact turn of phrase they have in mind, they are inhibiting the use of the words they do know. It’s a way of thinking to accept that you cannot be the complete sophisticated adult person in the language you are learning and to learn to say complex things with the simple words you have at your disposal.

Having said that, the aviation English course does have to teach a solid amount of terminology. This should be contextualised in pictures and/or texts with recordings of the correct pronunciation. It has to be practiced and reviewed more than once. It takes quite a lot of practice to internalise new words. Since most aviation English practice is oral, pronunciation practice should be part of every lesson. Not just the sounds, or phonemes, but also the rhythms. The correct accentuation of longer words is essential for comprehensibility, and an awareness of how the English language puts emphasis on the important words in a phrase and then “swallows” the rest is important for understanding spoken English. One French pilot was blown away by his first contact with real North American English at his hotel when ordering eggs for breakfast. The question “How ye wan yer eggs?” corresponded very little to his idea of the pronunciation of “How do you want your eggs?” What had his English teachers been teaching him all these years? Let me emphasise it is not necessary to speak Oxford, BBC or Boston English. Foreign accents are part of the personality of the speaker – I still speak French with an English, maybe a Scottish accent after more than 30 years. But it is necessary to be understood and to understand. Pronunciation and oral comprehension are very closely related. Someone who pronounces badly will have problems understanding.

(adapted from http://www.bigmag.co.uk/main/static/site/1957/download/14- Robertson.pdf on March 9th, 2007)

The author suggests that words should be learned:

READ TEXT I AND ANSWER QUESTION:

High Stakes in Language Proficiency

In an effort to reduce accidents involving communication deficiencies, ICAO is requiring pilots, controllers and aeronautical station operators involved in international operations to be tested for their ability to speak and understand English. At stake are careers, industry investment in training and testing — and safety.

Concern about fatal accidents involving inadequate proficiency in the use and comprehension of English in pilot-controller communication has prompted the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to establish a baseline for language proficiency and requirements for testing. Current requirements are for initial testing to be completed by March 2008.

With the new standards has come the designation of English as the language of international pilotcontroller communication. “English has long played the role of a de facto common language for international aviation,” ICAO said. “The new provisions formalize that role.”

English is the native language or a widely used national language in about 60 countries and is a second language in many more countries, ICAO said. People who speak English as a second language or as a “foreign language” outnumber those who speak English as a first language.

Nevertheless, the designation of English for international radiotelephony (the transmission of speech by radio) has not been without controversy. “Because language is so closely tied to our sense of national and cultural identity, people are naturally sensitive to issues of language use and policy,” said Elizabeth Mathews, a specialist in applied linguistics and leader of an international group — the Proficiency Requirements in Common English Study Group (PRI CESG) — that developed English language proficiency standards for ICAO.

(adapted from http://208.37.5.10/fsd/fsd_jan-feb06.pdfFlight

Safety Foundation • FLIGHT SAFETY DIGE ST • JAnuary–February 2006 on March 9th, 1007)

The word long in “English has long played the role” expresses:

READ TEXT I AND ANSWER QUESTION:

High Stakes in Language Proficiency

In an effort to reduce accidents involving communication deficiencies, ICAO is requiring pilots, controllers and aeronautical station operators involved in international operations to be tested for their ability to speak and understand English. At stake are careers, industry investment in training and testing — and safety.

Concern about fatal accidents involving inadequate proficiency in the use and comprehension of English in pilot-controller communication has prompted the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to establish a baseline for language proficiency and requirements for testing. Current requirements are for initial testing to be completed by March 2008.

With the new standards has come the designation of English as the language of international pilotcontroller communication. “English has long played the role of a de facto common language for international aviation,” ICAO said. “The new provisions formalize that role.”

English is the native language or a widely used national language in about 60 countries and is a second language in many more countries, ICAO said. People who speak English as a second language or as a “foreign language” outnumber those who speak English as a first language.

Nevertheless, the designation of English for international radiotelephony (the transmission of speech by radio) has not been without controversy. “Because language is so closely tied to our sense of national and cultural identity, people are naturally sensitive to issues of language use and policy,” said Elizabeth Mathews, a specialist in applied linguistics and leader of an international group — the Proficiency Requirements in Common English Study Group (PRI CESG) — that developed English language proficiency standards for ICAO.

(adapted from http://208.37.5.10/fsd/fsd_jan-feb06.pdfFlight

Safety Foundation • FLIGHT SAFETY DIGE ST • JAnuary–February 2006 on March 9th, 1007)

as in “English as the language” has the same meaning of the underlined word in:

READ TEXT I AND ANSWER QUESTION:

High Stakes in Language Proficiency

In an effort to reduce accidents involving communication deficiencies, ICAO is requiring pilots, controllers and aeronautical station operators involved in international operations to be tested for their ability to speak and understand English. At stake are careers, industry investment in training and testing — and safety.

Concern about fatal accidents involving inadequate proficiency in the use and comprehension of English in pilot-controller communication has prompted the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to establish a baseline for language proficiency and requirements for testing. Current requirements are for initial testing to be completed by March 2008.

With the new standards has come the designation of English as the language of international pilotcontroller communication. “English has long played the role of a de facto common language for international aviation,” ICAO said. “The new provisions formalize that role.”

English is the native language or a widely used national language in about 60 countries and is a second language in many more countries, ICAO said. People who speak English as a second language or as a “foreign language” outnumber those who speak English as a first language.

Nevertheless, the designation of English for international radiotelephony (the transmission of speech by radio) has not been without controversy. “Because language is so closely tied to our sense of national and cultural identity, people are naturally sensitive to issues of language use and policy,” said Elizabeth Mathews, a specialist in applied linguistics and leader of an international group — the Proficiency Requirements in Common English Study Group (PRI CESG) — that developed English language proficiency standards for ICAO.

(adapted from http://208.37.5.10/fsd/fsd_jan-feb06.pdfFlight

Safety Foundation • FLIGHT SAFETY DIGE ST • JAnuary–February 2006 on March 9th, 1007)

The underlined expression in “in about 60 countries” can be replaced by:

READ TEXT I AND ANSWER QUESTION:

High Stakes in Language Proficiency

In an effort to reduce accidents involving communication deficiencies, ICAO is requiring pilots, controllers and aeronautical station operators involved in international operations to be tested for their ability to speak and understand English. At stake are careers, industry investment in training and testing — and safety.

Concern about fatal accidents involving inadequate proficiency in the use and comprehension of English in pilot-controller communication has prompted the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to establish a baseline for language proficiency and requirements for testing. Current requirements are for initial testing to be completed by March 2008.

With the new standards has come the designation of English as the language of international pilotcontroller communication. “English has long played the role of a de facto common language for international aviation,” ICAO said. “The new provisions formalize that role.”

English is the native language or a widely used national language in about 60 countries and is a second language in many more countries, ICAO said. People who speak English as a second language or as a “foreign language” outnumber those who speak English as a first language.

Nevertheless, the designation of English for international radiotelephony (the transmission of speech by radio) has not been without controversy. “Because language is so closely tied to our sense of national and cultural identity, people are naturally sensitive to issues of language use and policy,” said Elizabeth Mathews, a specialist in applied linguistics and leader of an international group — the Proficiency Requirements in Common English Study Group (PRI CESG) — that developed English language proficiency standards for ICAO.

(adapted from http://208.37.5.10/fsd/fsd_jan-feb06.pdfFlight

Safety Foundation • FLIGHT SAFETY DIGE ST • JAnuary–February 2006 on March 9th, 1007)

The title implies that aviation authorities have: