ICAO English is a measure of someone’s ability to communicate in English using an aviation-relevant assessment process.

People who use aeronautical radios need to be able to communicate effectively in voice only (for radio), as well as in face-to-face situations like pre-flight briefings, training and interacting with other crew members. From a safety perspective, this communication needs to be in the language that is used locally by pilots and air traffic service providers.

Standards for language proficiency were established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

Who should read this information sheet?

• Pilots
• Instructors
• Flight training operators
• Flight examiners
• English language proficiency assessors
• If you are applying for a pilot licence
• If you are applying for an Aircraft Radio Operator Certificate
• If you are training and testing for an Aircraft Radio Operator Certificate

What do we mean by the “washback effect” of testing? The paper introduces the notion of the “washback” effect of testing with well-known examples in the academic field. The form, content, focus and delivery of a test often determine an academic curriculum and the way it is taught. As a result, these features in turn tend to affect the skills set which is the outcome of the training. In high-stakes aviation licensing testing, there is a greater need for the test results, and the prior or subsequent training, to be more directly applicable to operational conditions than in academia. With a view to compliance with ICAO language proficiency requirements, the main concern as regards both testing and training is that they effectively address: All six skills identified and defined in the Rating Scale; and The appropriate and highly specific language conWhile test design also affects test validity, the focus of the present paper is on the potentially positive and negative effects of test design and content on the form and content of aviation English language training courseware. The paper concludes with a brief coverage of the way in which all of: the type of test; the way in which the test is delivered and rated; and, most importantly, the language content of the test can affect the way training is designed, the language skills which are targeted and, ultimately, the quality of training that results. tent, namely the use of plain language in radiotelephony.

Summary

The ‘washback effect’ of testing is primarily the influence of testing on training and learning. It is also the potential impact that the form and content of an aviation English test may have on regulators’ and administrators’ conception of language proficiency and what it entails. The effect of test focus, type, delivery and content on training and training administration is examined.

Test Type

There are various types of language test: Indirect computer-assisted testing, whereby both delivery and rating are provided by a computer using conventional and voice recognition technology. While possibly appropriate for benchmark testing, this type of testing system without human intervention does not offer the reliability or scope required for proficiency or licensing testing. Semi-direct computer-assisted testing in which speech samples are elicited by computer-generated prompts and rated later by human assessors. Oral Proficiency Interviews which use tried and proven conventional interview techniques, and Hybrid testing using a combination of computer-assisted and live interviews in various formats. There are concerns about some types of testing being able to properly assess certain of the six skills in the ICAO Rating Scale, notably interactions and natural fluency. For example, it is legitimate to wonder whether lengthy speech samples in response to computer-generated prompts may fail to replicate natural interaction. This is somewhat reminiscent of those students in school examination situations who fill the time with pre-rehearsed speeches to avoid probing questions. It is to be feared that once such a test type or format is known, it may attract a too narrowly focused kind of training, geared more to exam preparation than to natural speech production. It may well be that only a skilled interlocutor is able to probe and conduct an interview in such a way as to generate a situation that genuinely provides for reliable assessment of the test-taker’s ability to interact and manage an exchange in an almost limitless range of unpredictable scenarios.

Test Delivery Equally, there are different variables of test delivery that include: Computerized or person to person; Telephone / video conference-based or face to face; Textual or oral delivery of test items; Native or non-native interlocutors; and The use of aviation professionals or qualified language specialists. All of these may have either positive or negative washback effects depending on how they are managed and presented. While these are all valid types of test delivery in themselves or in combination, they all have the potential to affect both the reliability of the outcome and the perception of language proficiency within the organisation.

ICAO English language proficiency levels: