Post 12 of 12 on assessment literacy and test user perceptions is my final offer on why aviation English testing is in such a poor state.
Untrained aviation English test personnel
The ICAO Rated Speech Samples Training Aid
The ICAO Rating Scale
Lack of industry-recognised aviation English testing services
Lack of accountability
The regulatory and commercial backdrop
Poor construct definition
Underrepresentation of listening comprehension
Generic test design
Lack of operationally relevant tests
We recently worked with a B777 captain who, as newcomer to the field, was astonished at the lack of meaningful standards in aviation language testing. This, along with the positive response I received to a post on aviation language assessment in the USA (post 1 in this series), prompted me to share a series of short articles on this topic. Post 2 looks at the lack of operationally-relevant aviation English tests.
Inappropriate regulatory guidance
Language testing for the ICAO Language Proficiency Requirements (LPRs) is exceptionally high-stakes. The industry deserves the highest standards of quality and yet aviation English testing is in a very poor state. This collection of twelve blog posts explores the issues. Post 1 looks at inappropriate regulatory guidance.
The value of aviation English rater training
The combination of national regulations and individual motivations has created a demand for generic aviation English rater training courses, a demand which is met by a number of providers who offer courses in varied shape and form. As rater training is largely unregulated, and as there is little guidance on what an aviation English rater training course should include, this article briefly explores this niche area of activity, suggests content that training courses should cover, and evaluates the usefulness of generic rater training.
Understanding idiomatic vocabulary for ICAO L5 or L6
Pass your message - aviation English for pilots
Teaching aviation English to student pilots - Some challenges
Ab-initio flight training is showing some positive signs of recovery. The adequate supply of professional pilots will be one of the keys to rebuilding of a safe and sustainable airline industry over the next few years, and the need for appropriate aviation English training to equip students for success at flight school and their career beyond is as pressing as ever. This blog post explains what drives Latitude to publish aviation English training content to enable aspiring pilots to gain entry to the aviation industry, and sets out six challenges that we observe in this exciting area of English for specific purposes.
Squawking 7600: The absence of RT in tests of aviation English
Radio communication between pilots and controllers features standard phraseology in the first instance and plain English when phraseology does not suffice. The two go together, hand-in-hand: safe and efficient radiotelephony relies on both. In this blog, we explain why it is so important for ICAO English tests to directly address radiotelephony communication, and we explore some of the reasons why radiotelephony is conspicuously absent in much aviation language testing today.
What about testing?
How come I can land a Fokker 100 and my French is so bad?
Should ICAO level 6 be removed?
Should ICAO level 6 be removed? The problem with level 6 is not so much that it exists, it is more accurately about the circumstances and inferences that stem from it. A pilot who gets level 6 has it for life, but how do we know the pilot will stay at ICAO level 6? Language proficiency can be lost over time.