The evolution of teaching and

testing Aviation English for

Brazilian air traffic controllers

Patricia Tosqui-Lucks

Airspace Control Institute (ICEA)

Brazil

Brazil – 5th largest country

Brazilian Portuguese

ATC Facilities

- 4 CINDACTAs (Civil ATC and

Air Defense together)

- Rio-SP region (SRPV)

- 5 ACC

- 47 APP

- 59 TWR

- 22 million square meters

- 4,000 ATCOs

Before the LPRs...

From 1991 to 2005:

• ATC Schools (EEAR /ICEA): Phraseology and American Language Course

• CTP004 (Phraseology for Emergency Situations);

• Sporadic general English courses at ACC and large APP facilities, some language labs

• Test: 2 written questions about phraseology/year; • No oral test; no AE courses, no specific courses, no inside

trainers nor testers.

The beginning...

Diagnostic Test for

all ATCOs

2005

- Team of de

instructors and testers

(SME)

2006

- Development of AE

Course and AE TTC

- General English for all

facilities

2006

Development and

Application of AE test

EPLIS

2007

Publication of a National Program for

Training and Testing by the Air Force

PCA 37-9

2008

EPLIS Validation –

Prof Matilde

Scaramucci

2009

-10 English teachers were hired (LE)

- 4 teachers/applied linguists (Air Force

ciivilian)

2008 - 2009

Training – Blended learning

Doc 9835 (2004;2010))

Cir 323 (2009)

Blended learning

Distance learning: 3 courses (ACC, APP or TWR) – 10 weeks

Intensive on site 2 week-course all over Brazil (5 regions)

Courses from private schools (online or on site) all over Brazil – General English and Aviation English

1-2 day workshops, English coffee break, maintenance English

ATC English Portal – Platform for students and trainers

Aviation English Instructor Training Course • 3-week course for ATCos PL 6 or 5 – twice a year

• Classes taught by LE – in English (8-12 students)

• Intensive training, focus on teaching listening and speaking, ESP, CLT and material development

• Training period with experienced instructor

• TEFL in USA, CELTA, other TTCs

• Tutor: 2-week online course and more training

Distance learning Modules – Moodle Platform

- 10 weeks - 8 modules (5 common and 3 specific content) - a tutor for 20

students - forums, chats, oral evaluations - knowledge, progress and final

multiple-choice tests) - games

Distance learning Modules – focus on P, V, C, S

Aviation English Course

• 2-week course all over Brazil

• ACC, APP and TRW students (8-12)

• Focus on fluency and interactions

• 100% ESP - Needs analysis

• Instructors: LE and SME (in tandem)

Role-plays /

PW / GW

ATC English Portal – Platform for students and instructors

Testing - EPLIS

• 11 editions, permanent improvement

through group work (SME + LE)

• 2 Phases

– Online Listening Comprehension (30 multiple-choice questions – 21 to go to interview)

– Oral Interview (2 independent raters - interlocutor)

– Automatic system (raters don’t know each other’s grades – random 3rd rater)

• ACC, APP, TWR and ab initio sets

• Validation Process – independent specialists from UNICAMP

Website / Candidate’s Manual

Testing – Test takers profile

EPLIS

Locations

Interviews

2007: 5% 2017: 50%

Test developers and raters

• 8-day course to PL6 SME (LE trainers)

• Online training – rating practice

• Yearly recurrent training – Group works

• International courses about AE testing

• Test development – experienced raters (LE and SME)

• Continuous development based on test results

• Statistics

Raters’ profile

International Events in Brazil

Research Resources

Aviation English Hub founder: Natália Guerreiro https://aviationenglishhub.wordpress.com/

GEIA – Aviation English Research

Group since 2013 – 11 research

projects concluded, 9 on going

http://pesquisa.icea.gov.br/geia/inicial.php

Conferences, Forums, Academic Events

• GEIA Seminars since 2014

• ICAEA Events (Buenos Aires, Brasilia, Dubrovnik, Daytona Beach)

• Applied Linguistics, Language Testing, Corpus Linguistics, TESOL...

• ICAEA Research Group 2017

• GEIA Seminars since 2014

• ICAEA Events (Buenos Aires, Brasilia, Dubrovnik, Daytona Beach)

• Applied Linguistics, Language Testing, Corpus Linguistics, TESOL...

• ICAEA Research Group 2017

LPR Technical Seminar ICAO Steering Committee

Symposium 2017 ANAC-ICEA

ICAEA 2012 Brasilia

ICAEA – Daytona Beach

Best practices in Aviation English training and testing…

• Is training and testing addressing real-world communication needs?

• Are we changing how we approach aviation English training? What lessons can we share?

In Brazil, after 10 years… YES!!!

50% PL 4, 5 ou 6 – consistently growing. 5 new military English Teachers to develop and coordinate regional training and

testing actions.

GEIA – book, website in English, bigger events (2018).

MCA 37-225 “Plan” now is a “Manual” (2018).

More technology for teaching and testing (softwares). More focused training and testing actions.

More integration with ATC Schools (CBLT, ab initio testing, benchmark) Better knowledge of what is necessary for Brazilian ATC reality.

Today and Tomorrow

patricialucks@gmail.com

Obrigada!