Archive for the ‘Academic’ Category
Making use of free Aviation English Resources
Advice for learning English from Aviation English Asia.
Article written by Michael Egerton
We’ve had a lot of interest from readers looking for free online courses for improving their Aviation English. In this article I’m going to share with you my recommendations for free Aviation English resources. Of course, this blog will continue to give you some free Aviation English lessons, but the best possible resource is our mailing list.
The best way to get free ICAO Aviation English exercises
Visit our website http://aviationenglish.com and subscribe to get:
- FREE instant access to 4 demo units of ICAO Aviation English Online
- FREE advice about learning English
- FREE downloads and study guides
- News about courses in your country
- Special offers and promotions
The first of these is very special – the ICAO Aviation English Online course has 4 levels, each of 12 units. Each unit is about 8-12 hours of English practice. Subscribers can try 4 of these demo units from each of the four levels before you buy the course.
The content of the course is also very interesting for pilots and controllers because it covers important information that you will need in your career, not just for the ICAO test. It’s also the only conplete Aviation English course, offering courses from ICAO levels 2-4. If you are preparing for an ICAO English test I strongly recommend that you join our mailing list and try out these free Aviation English lessons.
What do you get in the free demos?
Over 30 hours of Aviation English exercises including.. listening and reading comprehension, true or false questions, gap fill exercises, multiple choice, vocabulary practice and the opportunity to practice radiotelephony. If your grammar and listening skills are weak I recommend that you try the lower level courses which give you more grammar and listening practice. The ICAO Level 3 Upper level course is more focused on technical vocabulary, so don’t worry about trying out the low level units. There is plenty of good practice material there for you. After trying the demo units, I’m sure that you will want to buy the complete course.
Looking for more free ICAO English exercises?
One of the most important skills that you can develop easily is reading. There are thousands of aviation articles on the internet but only a handful are suitable as learning material. Such is the skill of an aviation English teacher who can carefully select suitable articles for use in the classroom. Keep an eye on our blog and Facebook Page for these articles.
You can also read technical websites like http://www.skybrary.aero which is a wiki created by a number of flight safety and training organisations. It makes fascinating reading and you can learn something new each time you visit.
For listening practice try listening to a favourite airport on http://liveatc.net. Always listen for the key information in each transmission and you will soon become familiar with different accents. Be careful though, listening to air traffic control can become addictive. There is now an iphone application available which makes listening in, even more convenient.
Our YouTube channel features a selection of videos, some even with ATC transcripts. If you have any interesting videos to share, please let us know.
Interact with Aviation English Asia
If you want to improve your English, talk to us! We have a wide range of methods that you can use to engage in a conversation. If you have a question, ask it on our Facebook Discussion forum, you can also make contact with other Aviation English learners having similar experiences.
Our team of pilots, Subject Matter Experts and Aviation English teachers will be happy to talk with you. We will post a discussion question each week. If you have friends and colleagues, suggest that they “like” our page too.
You can find us here:
Disadvantages of free Aviation English resources
It is always good to practice English at every opportunity, and make good use of free resources on the internet. But if there is so much free material out there, then why pay for a course? As aviation English teachers we want you to be independent learners so doing as much self-study as you can is a good thing. The difficulty is when you get information overload and don’t know where to direct your attention. With self-study you also lack the feedback and guidance of a teacher, who could perhaps show you your errors or teach you an easier way of practising a skill.
Another difficulty on the internet is that it is easy to become distracted by advertisements and other things like msn messenger. It can be very easy to lose track of time and study is not always productive. ICAO Aviation English Online is more effective as it has a Learning Management System that tracks your progress and time spent on the course. As well as showing you your mistakes, if you miss too many study sessions, or fall behind in your study we can give you a reminder. When you have a consistent study rhythm it’s relatively easy to achieve a half-ICAO level within 12 weeks.
It’s also easy to take the things that you learn online into the real world as it’s also designed for blended learning in a classroom. So you can practice and expand everything that you learn online with a teacher and other learners in a classroom. At the end of the day it’s all about being able to communicate effectively with real people.
What to do next
For feedback and more information about Aviation English Asia’s courses please visit http://aviationenglish.com. We can help you improve your English whether you are an experienced pilot, a cadet entry pilot, a controller, aerospace engineer or flight attendant, with custom courses designed specifically for your needs. If you haven’t already please join the Aviation English mailing list for instant access to free demonstration units of the ICAO Aviation English Online course, special offers and details of courses in your area.
Of course, feel free to leave a comment or even a suggestion for a future article. We value all of your feedback.
English learning advice from Aviation English Asia.
Article written by Michael McBride
In this article I am going to focus on accuracy and making errors in Aviation English communication. As ICAO state, “errors may occur” at ICAO Level 4. This article will examine what kind of errors you can reasonably make and what you need to do to be as accurate as possible. To be accurate is also to be realistic, you cannot expect to be correct in what you say all of the time, so what ‘errors’ are important and what aren’t to be ICAO operational?
What is an error and what is a mistake?
The basic difference is that an “error” is something you do not know the answer to, maybe through a lack of knowledge or skills. A “mistake” is when you forget the answer to something you previously knew.
So we must look further into the first term – error. This is where problems can arise and what you need to target in getting your message across even without being 100% accurate and using other words and communication strategies. Let’s look at the term in more detail by separating it into the following: –
- Global error – something is said incorrectly and it affects the meaning entirely
- Local error – some parts of what is said is wrong but overall it doesn’t change the meaning, it is understood to a good extent.
As you probably would guess ICAO will tolerate local errors more, as they state the candidate “rarely makes global errors…and some local errors.” In other words you must avoid making global errors as much as possible and understand that local errors could still guarantee ICAO level 4 as long as it is not frequent. Which do you think is local and global from the following: –
#1 “My job is check first the aircraft status.”
#2 “My jos is first the aircraft status.”
#1 is not grammatically correct, but the meaning is clear = local
#2 could be interpreted correctly but it is unclear and when in a pilot-controller situation (as one example) is there enough time to try to understand what is spoken? It totally interferes with the interaction = global
Advice and information on how to reduce errors
Do you think mis-communicating “he speak” rather than “he speaks” on the radio will be seen as a major problem in the eyes of ICAO requirements? Is it really crucial to meaning? Well, the simple answer is that it is a local error and if all you need is Level 4 it is not a serious issue, it depends how far you want to go, ICAO level wise.
I must stress that ICAO is more interested in appropriacy and intelligibility than correctness all the time, which means not everything has to be correct but it must be understood overall.
As I have mentioned in previous articles, you need to practice communication strategies to reduce errors and increase accuracy which can be helped by practising the following: –
- Synonyms – use words of similar/same meaning if you forget your first thought
- Word families – practice the different forms of words eg. extend, extension, extended, which one is used when?
- ‘Invent’ new words rather than struggling to remember the correct word for something e.g. “animal container” instead of “cage”
Furthermore you must always be able to check and clarify certain uncertain interactions, which ICAO state as “using clarification strategies” when communication problems arise. Do not give up, you might not be accurate with a message first time around, so adopt the 3 Cs rule. Clarify, Check and Confirm. Which “C” do you think applies to the following: –
- “Is the altimeter 1014”?
- “Affirm”
- “What is the altimeter setting?”
The 3Cs provide a way to make less mistakes in interactions and carrying out a full procedure in the air or on the ground.
Answers – Check, confirm, clarify
An error is only an error if it is not understandable to the vast majority of speakers/listeners. You must focus on working on the core sounds of words to become more accurate in terms of pronunciation (previous article) and the above strategies in terms of vocabulary and understanding.
In conclusion, remember that your training time might be limited with due to your schedule, so do not worry too much about local errors like missing out the/a/an and “s” in 3rd person verbs, your instructor will probably not focus too much on correcting this. Of course this depends on what level you need and your current English ability.
Next steps
Practice and interact in English with colleagues, Aviation personnel and friends using Aviation related topics, such as discussions and even arguments. Your Aviation English course will be communicative, which means that you must talk, make mistakes and not give up to gain fully from the course. After all, the ICAO recommended testing system is communicative, which I will focus on in the coming weeks.
Test
Re-write the following sentences, which ones do you think would be acceptable for ICAO Level 4?
- Avion Air 734, has things in the air flying around, need you
- Something in the cabin, possibly fighting
- It seem to coming out of cargo hold
- He have problem with baby out now
Checklist
- Some local errors are acceptable, meaning and intelligibility is more important than full and complete accuracy.
- Communication and clarification strategies should be practiced
- It is good to make mistakes in your training, keep at it, and don’t give up. Continually focus on communication of Aviation related topics in and out of the classroom. Errors and mistakes should reduce the more you practice and communicate (speaking and listening).
What to do next
For more information about Aviation English Asia’s courses please visit http://aviationenglish.com. If you haven’t already please join the Aviation English mailing list for instant access to free demonstration units of the ICAO Aviation English Online course, special offers and details of courses in your area.
Do you say /lunway/ instead of /runway/? Is this a problem? A guide to pronunciation in Aviation English.
English learning advice from Aviation English Asia.
Written by Michael McBride
In this article I am going to focus on pronunciation in Aviation English, the different characteristics and ICAO requirements. As the ICAO advises, “pronunciation must be given high priority.” It must be stressed that your Aviation English training requires you to practice both listening and speaking, which form the main part of the ICAO tests, so pronunciation is essential.
General components of pronunciation
Pronunciation is of course a fundamental part of language learning and allows the speaker to express themselves coherently and accurately. You will have experienced the feeling of knowing the meaning of a word but if you cannot pronounce it properly you are left with feelings of inadequacy. If you can pronounce words how they should be you are given the confidence to keep on improving your language skills. Included in the general pronunciation umbrella are the following: –
- Stress – The emphasis of words or parts of words (syllables), but also can include weak sounds
- Rhythm – The speed of communication, including when to pause and when to speed up
- Intonation – The high, middle and low levels of speech, especially noted in asking questions
In your General English training you should have knowledge and practice of these pronunciation areas, for example vowel and consonant sounds, knowing when to emphasise sounds/words and how to question by raising your voice higher or lower.
ICAO Aviation English pronunciation requirements
According to the ICAO, level 4 candidates must “use a dialect or accent which is intelligible to the community,” in other words, pronunciat
ion is crucial. Let’s look at the word “intelligibility” as it a key part of Aviation English. This term is linked to how someone is understood and not necessarily that person being 100% correct all the time with how/what they say. Please do not mistake intelligibility with accuracy, although similar they are separate terms. This is especially relevant to ICAO Level 4. The other person must be able to understand you but you do have the space to make a few mistakes. As ICAO state:
“Pronunciation, stress, rhythm and intonation….sometimes interfere with ease of understanding.” (ICAO 9835)
So to be more positive this means although pronunciation is “high priority” (ICAO) to get to operational level there is room to make some errors. If your voice is unclear, the words are not understandable and too many (instead of a few) mistakes are made how can the controller/pilot communicate with you effectively in the sky and on the ground?
Advice on how to improve pronunciation
To improve your pronunciation is all about being aware of your mouth and what sounds it produces within the English language. What sounds do your front mouth/lips make as opposed to the back of your throat? You may find it harder to pronounce ‘back of the throat’ sounds like “k” or “q”, through knowing what are your weaknesses you can then focus on repeating these sounds until practice makes perfect.
In order to be intelligible over the radio be aware that omitting key vowel and particularly consonant sounds can decrease all understanding. Not saying consonant sounds at the end of words is a particular problem with some learners. Do you say “requ vect” when it should be “request vectors?” Looking at the word “vectors” consider the following: –
- “Vec-ors” – is this recognisable?
- “Ve-tors” – how about this?
Linking to ICAO requirements it may be all right to accidentally omit consonants in the middle of words, but be careful and try to self-correct whenever possible. Strategies to self-correct and practice problem pronunciation will be taught in greater detail with your instructor at Aviation English Asia. You should have the ability to correct yourself, but don’t expect to be perfect or fluent at ICAO level 4. Further advice
It is certainly advisable to listen to a range of accents and dialects, linked again to the ICAO requirements about being understood in an intelligible way of speaking. It is not enough to role model and listen to your teacher’s accent alone. What accents are must difficult for you to understand, what is your developing accent going to be? What works for you?
- British English – this tends to include stronger pronunciation of consonants like “t”, for example “often” is usually pronounced “offt-un”
- American English – in comparison consonant sounds tend to sound weaker, “often” sounds like “off-un.”
You certainly need to be aware of different accents and practice listening to them so you eventually are able to work out what the word is quickly and efficiently. Listen to authentic recordings on www.liveatc.net and our youtube channel. Select an audio recording. Is every consonant sound like “t” and “l” pronounced? Why or why not? Listen to the speed of interaction. What differences can you hear with native and non-native English speakers?
Checklist
What to do next
For more information about Aviation English Asia’s courses please visit http://aviationenglish.com. If you haven’t already please join the Aviation English mailing list for instant access to free demonstration units of the ICAO Aviation English Online course, special offers and details of courses in your area.
English learning tips from Aviation English Asia
In this article I’m going to give some proven advice on language learning, and I’ll even give you my Top Five Tips for Developing Good English Learning Habits, so you can be successful in an airline career.
If you are reading this article, chances are that you are preparing to either take or re-take an ICAO English test. If you are not taking this test (it’s for pilots and air traffic controllers) then you will still find this advice very useful, no matter what your intended career. If you follow my advice, you can save a lot of time and money in learning English.
Let me start this article by telling you a few things about me, that maybe you don’t know. The first time I learned a foreign language was in high school, back in the UK – I was supposed to learn French. I was actually quite good at French because I was good at mimicking (copying) sounds. My teacher didn’t see it that way though, in fact my teacher never saw or heard me speak French at all. There were too many other students (about 30 in a class) and they were all of mixed levels. The teacher never gave us any opportunity to practice speaking in French to each other, we just watched her write on the board and occasionally copied her in choral repetition (repeating words as a group). I only learned French for two years, and I was glad to drop the subject. I didn’t particularly hate learning French, but I just didn’t feel motivated to learn it, or didn’t feel any great need to learn it.
I didn’t learn another foreign language again for a long time. I chose to learn Mandarin in evening classes at my university. I learned Mandarin for 2 hours per week, for 8 months. There were about 15 people in the class and they all became great friends. Naturally a few people dropped out, because they were busy with their careers but most of us managed to stick together as a group and help each other. Of course, this was in London so there wasn’t much opportunity to practice speaking in Mandarin day to day.
In each class we were told to memorise a list of words both in pin yin (romanised) and as hanzi (Chinese characters). Within weeks we were told to not use the romanised characters, just remember the Chinese characters. In each lesson we would often have to memorise 20 or more hanzi and be able to read and pronounce them correctly. Very few of us managed to do this and we forgot a lot of them, probably because they were words that we would never use (eg. planned socialist economy). It was painful having to look up the Chinese characters in a dictionary so I could pronounce them correctly.
When I moved to Hong Kong I started learning Cantonese instead. By this time I had a lot of experience in language teaching so I could recognise the techniques that the teacher was using. My Cantonese teacher spoke to me in 100% Cantonese (or not at all) so I used the target language all of the time. I learned vocabulary from pictures not a dictionary – only later did I learn to write the word in chinese characters or pin yum. I studied Cantonese with my teacher 6 hours a day, five days a week, for 6 weeks – then I went out and practised some more.
Which language do you think that I can speak better?
My Cantonese is much better than my Mandarin, and my French is now non-existent. So what is the difference that made the difference?
The main difference is not the length of time studying, or the environment I studied in, but the teaching method. In language teaching there are two distinct families:
1. Grammar Translation
2. Communicative Method
In school, most people learn through Grammar Translation. It does have some advantages, but it’s a very slow method. Schools often use this style of teaching when they are teaching a “foreign” language or when there are a lot of students in a very large class. Grammar Translation teaches you to remember many different grammar rules, and learn vocabulary by memorisation. In these classes the success of the method is judged by how you perform in the exam. This often means that learners can read and write – but not speak and hear very well. Just like my French class, it’s not fun.
In Communicative Method the emphasis is on meaning rather than the more traditional approach that emphasizes structural/grammatical competence. The learner gets to practice using the language in a way that is meaningful to them. So how can knowing this help you pass the ICAO English test?
The most important reason is that it can help you realise that not everything your high school teacher told you was correct. There are better ways of learning, and a good teacher will help you discover them. Your teacher in high school might have told you to memorise vocabulary lists, read newspapers and complete gap-fill exercises but that isn’t exactly best teaching practice in the 21st century. I don’t mean that your previous teachers were necessarily bad teachers, but they might have been forced to use a teaching method that was the only method they had particularly big classes.
So what I’m trying to say, is that I understand what it is like to learn a foreign language, and that my teachers weren’t always right either. If you have ever found it difficult to make progress in English, or achieve that breakthrough I have some great advice for you.
So here are my Top Five Tips for Developing Good English Learning Habits
1. Use the target language – that means just use English, not your native language. Avoid translation unless you really need help. Some words might not have an equivalent “concept” in your native language so in this situation translation would be pointless. When you use the target language you are training your brain to make connections that will help you remember words more easily.
2. COW – Concept, Oral Form, Written Form – when you learn new vocabulary try to understand the meaning (the way the word is being used in a real situation) before learning the pronunciation or the written form. If you know what a word means, then the pronunciation will be much easier. The last thing you should be concerned about is the written form. Don’t worry about spelling until you have mastered the pronunciation of the oral form of the word.
3. Don’t focus on grammar too much – a good communicative teacher will present grammar structures in context so you can learn them naturally. The most important thing is that you can communicate. You can work on your accuracy later.
4. Have clear goals – know what your current level is and how long it will take you to reach your target level of English proficiency. This will help you be realistic about what you can achieve – a complete ICAO level in 3 weeks isn’t going to be possible so don’t rush through your English course. Take regular English Assessment Tests to find out if you are on track to reach your goal.
5. Make learning English a regular habit. Don’t just practice English with your teacher, make sure you practice English with other students, and at every opportunity you can. If practicing English is a regular part of your life your brain it will become easier and more enjoyable.
I’d also like to share with you one more great piece of advice about developing a good attitude towards learning. This one is really important.
You should practice English because you enjoy communicating with other English speakers, not just because you need it for your job. If you only learn English so you can pass the ICAO English test, or pass an airline’s interview procedure you are giving yourself a lot of additional pressure. Be nice to yourself, and enjoy learning English. Improving your English is an investment that will always pay off, no matter what your career.
For more information about Aviation English Asia’s courses please visit http://aviationenglish.asia
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Steve Maule explains what Aviation English is in this guest post from our Academic Director.
The answer to this question would probably depend on whether you are a teacher, a flight instructor, a pilot or air traffic controller, a cadet pilot or a provider of ESL learning materials.
In it’s simplest form Aviation English is a form of ESP. ESP stands for English for Specific purposes. Sometimes the term English for Aviation is used which is actually a bit more specific. It implies that the English taught is specific technical language that would be used in the context of aviation. Such language is normally (but not always beyond the realm that English language teachers are comfortable teaching – unless they have an aviation background or a deep interest in aviation. In contrast the term Aviation English is used to refer to teaching just the essential language used in aviation. Some subjects, themes and grammatical structures might be omitted. In that respect, Aviation English, combined with radio-telephony is its own language – distinct from regular English.
If that is not confusing enough, what is radio-telephony? Radio-telephony, or R/T is a system of communication between stations. Stations are typically control towers or aircraft. Radio telephony has its own protocol, pronunciation rules and “grammar”. Usually pilots and controllers will use a system of communication called phraseology.
A good aviation English syllabus will include both radio-telephony and English for Aviation as it will build confidence in the learner if they are using language that they could be expected to use during training or later active duty. In general, an Aviation English course is based around topics and themes that are directly relevant to pilots and controllers.
Is this model too simplistic? Maybe. There is some body of thought that believe that you cannot teach aviation English. Instead you need to teach general English until the learner is at such a stage that they can grasp technical aviation language.
At Aviation English Asia we take the view that English should be a complete language. Some aspects of language should be prioritised – this is in line with the ESP perspective. That would be catering to learner’s immediate needs. Longer term the English for Aviation perspective is superior and gives greater functional ability. In that respect many airlines find that such English for Aviation training is a complement to their own CRM (Crew Resource Management) training. There are great overlaps between teaching “content” and “language”. Modern ESL teachers are trained to teach “language” without content and not express their own opinions and beliefs to learners. This is with the aim of empowering English learners to “own the language” rather than copy what theteacher has dictated to them. In the aviation context, the lines between content and language are blurred when language training takes place alongside other aspects of aviation training such as CRM and Human Factors. The Aviation English teacher needs to be able to facilitate language aquisition, but often simultaneously reinforc knowledge needed for safety.
One of the difficulties with Aviation English is that there are very limited learning materials available. This however is changing and there are a number of course books commercially available. The question is, how suitable is the material for the learner’s needs. Therefore the aviation English teacher needs to be skilful in assessing the learner’s needs and use these coursebooks as tools rather than the basis of a course itself.
For more information about Aviation English please contact info@aviationenglish.asia
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Conan She
Michael Egerton
Michael McBride
Aviation English Asia Blog 