English Proficiency Test

[lambert]

Icao Language Levels - The Facts

I also went to Montreal earlier this month to attend the IALS2 and can confirm the sighting of the SACAA representative. In fact I work in a school with the person responsible for rewriting the ICAO Language manual (Doc 9835).
One of the main complaints at the conference was the lack of standards and international recognition or accreditation. I can emphatically state that ICAO does not accredit either schools or raters. There is no such thing as internationally recognized certification. That said, if the national authority of individual countries decides to approve raters and the ICAO level (4 to 6) is endorsed in the licence (by that national authority), that would then become recognized by receiving states (ie those states that the pilot visits whilst piloting his aeroplane.) At this stage, for example, an Angolan pilot could not go to Cranfield, be tested, and take his certificate back to the Angolan authority to have his licence endorsed (unless Cranfield has been approved by the Angolan authority.)
At this stage there isn't an internationally approved test - a couple of schools have produced their own (RMIT in Australia and Mayflower in the UK to name a couple). Most credible tests include listening to recorded traffic with some method of establishing comprehension of the content and then a simulation of an incident (engine failure, fire, unruly passenger, decompression, etc) to force the candidate to move from phraseology to plain English and back. The candidate is then assessed for pronunciation, structure (grammar), vocabulary, fluency, comprehension and interaction. Once assessed at level 6 ”expert” no further testing is required, level 5 is retested every 5 years and level 4 every 3 years. Whichever test is used, it would have to be acceptable to the national authority.
There are two acknowledged approaches to establishing levels. Firstly a less formal test for those people who have completed their pilot or ATC training in English (normally but not limited to English native speakers) and secondly a formal test for non-native speakers. The former is obviously the approach that the SACAA is following.
Believe me, as a teacher of Aviation English to French ATC, it is important for English speakers to become more aware of the use of decent, understandable English on frequency. If the non-English speakers can put an effort into attaining level 4 then the English speakers can at least use correct terminology and phraseology.
I will never forget the pilot reporting to Port Elizabeth Approach "estimating your's at ...... " and the ATC asking (sarcastically) if he was going to George! That said, I think South Africans are generally well spoken on air and certainly have a good reputation in French airspace.
French ramp inspectors will be checking licence endorsements for minimum level 4 from the 5 March 2008.
International language testing is not a get rich scheme - it is an important contribution to aviation safety.
Safe landings.