Commercial aviation language testing: barriers to success? A case study.
Aviation is a safety-driven industry which requires quality language tests and good regulation. However, no test service provider publishes evidence for the quality of its instrument (often in spite of regulatory requirements), and there is just one ICAO-recognised language test available in the market. Has language testing failed to deliver?
Launched in 2009, the English Test for Aviation (ETA) was a commercial language test for flight crew developed by aviation and language experts and was the first language test in the world to achieve recognition* from ICAO. However, the owner ceased test operations in February 2013, and the ICAO recognition of the ETA expired shortly afterwards. Taking the ETA as a case study, this workshop will:
- Analyse the practical, commercial and regulatory challenges associated with the provision quality aviation language testing services
- Investigate reasons for the absence of evidence for test quality in today's aviation language testing arena
- Explore potential solutions to the issues associated with aviation language test quality
* The ETA held a conditional endorsement from ICAO between 2012 and 2013