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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)

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