Check your aviation english

This course is for aviation professionals – particularly pilots and air-traffic controllers – who wish to maintain and improve on Level 4 (operational) as measured by the ICAO language proficiency rating scale (see pages 6 and 7).

The course aims to increase confidence in communication and develops the very specific skills described in the ICAO Level 4 language profile.

These are the skills needed to succeed in any Level 4 assessment and also to function effectively and safely in an aviation environment.

This course does not aim to teach the terminology that aviation professionals need but it is included to provide a context for the plain English needed for communication between pilots and air-traffic controllers.

The main focus is on the language needed to communicate in non-routine and / or emergency situations during flight operations.

All of the material you need to use Check Your Aviation English is included here; the CD contains all of the recordings for the listening activities as well as sample answers for the picture description exercises. The scripts for all the radiotelephony activities (Exercise 3 in each unit) have been checked for accuracy and authenticity by Oxford Aviation Academy. Recording scripts and answers can all be found at the end of the book.

The authors have endeavoured to adhere to ICAO / CAP 413 practice. However, not all the scripts conform exactly to those criteria, just as in real life not all RT and / or verbal intercommunications adhere precisely to them.

In some cases, therefore, scripts have been written to reflect the natural ebb and flow of aviation communication, whilst remaining within the overall spirit of ICAO and CAP 413 guidance.

Student’s Book

Each of the main units in the Student’s Book contains six main activities.

Activity 1 – Describe the picture

This is based on a picture of an aviation-related incident and you need to describe what you can see in the picture. A number of words are given to guide you and a model answer is also provided on the accompanying CD for you to compare your answer to. The second half of this activity provides follow-up questions which can be used to help you extend your answer.

Activity 2 – Plain English

This activity is based on a recording related to flight operations. There are two sections; the first introduces the recording and asks you to identify the main theme of the recording while the second focuses on details.

Activity 3 – Radiotelephony

Here you will listen to a radiotelephony recording based on an emergency or non-routine flight operation scenario and will have to
answer a number of questions about it. It always contains a listening text or texts involving a radiotelephony exchange with a mixture of phraseology and plain English.

Activity 4 – Clarification

This activity aims to practise clarification techniques. If you are using this book in class you will work with a partner to role play a dialogue. If you are studying independently consider carefully what you would say in the situation and then check your answers in the back of the book.

Activity 5 – Vocabulary Check

There are two sections here to check the main vocabulary you need to talk about the subject of the unit. In the first section you have to match items to their definitions while in the second you have to complete a text with the same items so that you can see how they function in context. You may need to change the forms of some of the words.

Activity 6 – Discussion

In this activity there is an opportunity to answer further questions on the topic of the unit and also to practise and use all of the vocabulary you have learnt within a meaningful context.

and two review tests at the end of the book to check how much you can remember