LEGAL ENGLISH

AVIATION ENGLISH

PAPER

By:

FIRDAUS NUR HABIBA (201910560211002)

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF MAGISTER ENGLISH LANGAUGE EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG
2020
 A. Legal English
Introduction
1. Language and the Law

The term Legal English (LE) has variable meaning understood by some to
refer to legalese and by others as a shortcut for Anglo-American law, hence ESP
practitioners have often eschewed the term in favour of English for legal purpose
(ELP). Other acronyms have been developed to account for different subsets and so
we have EALP (English for academic legal purposes). EOLP (English for
occupational legal purposes), and EGLP (English for general legal purposes). In
related fields other definitions prevail. However, in the discussion that follows, my
understanding and use of the term Legal English equates with “English language
education to enable L2 law professionals to operate in academic and professional
contexts requiring the use of English” (Northcott 2009: 166). It follows from this that
Legal English research is research undertaken primarily to promote this aim and thus
support pedagogy.

The nature and properties of legal language provide material for a substantial
part of the Legal English research agenda because a large part of ESP has focussed
and continues to focus on the description and analysis of the target language and
language practices of the particular discourse community to which the learners
belong or aspire to belong. Research in this area can be found in a number of related
applied linguistic sub - disciplines in addition to ESP. These are referred to variously
as legal linguistics, language and the law, and forensic linguistics. Understandably, in
what is essentially a multidisciplinary area, there is no common agreement on the
demarcation points. It is in effect a contested area. Definitions would appear to
depend on the definer’ s affiliation and academic background. For example, forensic
linguistics is viewed, broadly, as a branch of applied linguistics including the study
of the written language of the law and spoken legal discourse, with their related
social justice issues, legal translation and interpreting as well as Legal English
teaching and learning (Gibbons and Turell 2008).

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 Anglo - Saxon, French, and Latin have all left their marks on the language of
the law in English. Medieval French influence has left us with long, complicated
sentences; Anglo - Saxon has given us alliterative phrases, the product of an oral
tradition. Some of these have persisted (to have and to hold in the marriage service).
Legal pairs (e.g. null and void; peace and quiet; breaking and entering; cease and
desist) are the fossilized result of the legal language changing from French to English
in the late medieval period. The question as to why these anachronisms have
persisted in the legal language can be answered partly by the lawyer’ s need for
certainty and precision. Moreover, using a language not well - known to the general
populace, with obscurities and ambiguities combined with excessive use of ritualistic
language, maintains the image of the law as something inaccessible, mysterious and
frightening, enabling the state to maintain its authority and lawyers to hold on to
power. Recent forensic linguistics research claims go beyond the fact that the
difficulties in understanding the language of the law are one factor causing
misunderstandings to show how the very nature of legal language can lead to social
disadvantage for vulnerable groups.

2. Translation Studies

Understanding is not enhanced by literal translations of legal terms. Although

specialized dictionaries are generally intended for specialist communication, the
purpose of the new dictionary was to enable the Chinese – speaking public to
understand the law, motivated by the desire to ensure that Hong Kong’ s freedom and
autonomy were not being undermined by Beijing. For a term or concept to be
understood it is necessary to have:

a. definitions of a legal term;

b. a context showing how a legal term is interpreted;
c. sources of the relevant ordinances (statutes) and cases.

A translation of the brief facts of the cases and the ratio decided (the
principles or reasoning for the decisions). There are clear implications for the

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teaching of legal vocabulary because a full understanding of common law terms
requires an exploration of all of the steps outlined above.

3. Common Law as a Source of Difficulty

That English is the language of the common law has often been perceived as
the root of many of the law - specific difficulties for Legal English learners (see
Northcott 2006). These learners include both students preparing for post - graduate
law study and practicing lawyers from continental Europe and other countries whose
legal systems are based on civilian law. Examples from English law include equity
and trust. All legal systems contain terms with no comparable counterparts in another
legal system but the problem is particularly acute when it involves a common law
country. The study of law itself varies between civil and common law jurisdictions.
Civilian law is based on written statutes, which are general legal principles compiled
into codes. Law students study these codes. English law, on the other hand, has not
been completely codified.

4. Common Law Contracts

The difficulties in working with cases, contracts are clearly a potential source
of difficulty for the Legal English learner. Because of the importance assigned to the
meaning of words and expressions by judges, in order to understand common law
contracts, it is necessary to know what the terms mean to a common law lawyer. The
International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) tried to avoid
the use of terminology peculiar to any given legal system by creating, where
necessary, entirely new concepts with new terminology. As the rules have been
translated from English and integrated into the laws of different countries differences
in practice have re-emerged.

Triebel (2009) considers the practical language difficulties faced by German -

speaking lawyers working with contracts in three specific situations: English
contracts governed by common law; English contracts being interpreted by civil law
courts; and contracts written in English but governed by the law of a civil law

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jurisdiction. This is not simply a translation problem as it also results in dilemmas of
interpretation for the civil law courts.

5. Legal English Research

There is evidence of increasing convergence between methods used for

teaching both first language (L1) and second language (L2) law students. Various
models (genre frameworks) have been developed to improve the ability of law
students to write problem question essays. These essays, used extensively in
undergraduate law programs in common law countries, require the law student to
consider a set of facts and identify the legal issues raised, applying the law to the
facts.

6. Implication for Legal English Research and Practice

Certainly, Legal English teaching experience that attempts to involve legal

specialists is enlightening in this regard. No lawyer will give an answer to a question
outside her often very narrow area of specialization, although ESP teachers often feel
that they must be able to answer every question a learner asks. Neither professional
legal qualifications, nor the more recent language and law qualifications, available in
departments of forensic linguistics in Finland and the United Kingdom, suffice. ESP
methods involving a learner - centred approach, which uses the knowledge of the
learners and works in partnership with them to develop their competence in using the
language of the law in the target contexts of use can provide a better solution.
However, the need for authenticity and face validity, particularly in relation to the
production of Legal English materials, requires some understanding of the law.

B. Aviation English
Introduction

Aviation English describes the language used by pilots, air traffic controllers,
and other personnel associated with the aviation industry. Although the term may
encompass a wide variety of language use situations, including the language of

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airline mechanics, flight attendants, or ground service personnel, most research and
teaching focus on the more specialized communication between pilots and air traffic
controllers, often called radiotelephony. The language used by flight attendants and
other general aviation personnel, like many forms of English for specific purposes,
uses conventional English pronunciation, structure, vocabulary, and interactional
patterns, but adapts them to the purposes of the particular domain and context
(Cutting 2011). The language of air traffic control is a more specialized and
restricted variety, for which the language patterns are tightly regulated by
professional and international standards. the use of English as the international
language of air traffic control is officially mandated by the International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The ICAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations, whose role is to set
standards for aviation safety and security and to promote cooperation in civil aviation
among its 191 member states (ICAO and Strategic Objectives). According to ICAO
policy, pilots on international flights and air traffic controllers in airspaces that
receive international flights must demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively
in English, in addition to the language used by the station on the ground (ICAO
2004). Aviation English teaching and testing for pilots and air traffic controllers has
become a major focus worldwide. In 2003, ICAO imposed new standards for
Aviation English, which required pilots and air traffic controllers worldwide to reach
by March 2008 uniform minimum English proficiency levels defined as Operational
Level 4 by a prescribed rating scale.

1. Aviation English Discourse

Air traffic communication occurs entirely over radio frequencies and includes
no face - to - face communication. All communication within the cockpit and from
the cockpit to the controller relies on speaker and hearer interpretations of these
material symbols. Because most flights occur in highly regulated airspaces, most of
the communication between pilots and controllers involves routine exchanges of
predictable, shared information concerning the aircraft in the area, the parameters of

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the airport or airspace, and the expected actions at particular points in the flight. The
prescribed vocabulary and syntax are referred to as phraseology. Non - prescribed
uses of more common English vocabulary and syntax are called “plain English” by
aviation professionals.

All examples come from the radiotelephony portion of the Oklahoma State
University Corpus of Aviation English (Moder and Halleck 2009, 2012). The call
signs and reporting points have been modified to preserve anonymity.

Example 1

PN395: Centre Control, Papa November tree - niner - fife at tree - tree - zero.

CC: Papa November tree - niner - fife, Center Control, roger, maintain flight
level tree - tree - zero, report at Dukka.

PN395: Report at Dukka, Papa November tree - niner - fife.

Example 1 is a routine communication between an en route controller, Center

Control (CC), and the pilot of an aircraft with the call sign PN395 (Papa November
tree - niner - fife). En - route air traffic controllers, or area controllers, typically
monitor thousands of square miles of airspace and may also provide services for
smaller airports in their area.

Example 3 presents a native English speaking pilot contacting a Spanish -

speaking controller to request a deviation from the planned flight path because of
weather. Although there is prescribed ICAO phraseology for this (Request weather
deviation), the pilot uses plain English in his request (“we’ re-deviating just a little
bit left of course for weather”).

Example 3

A492: Centre Control, Airline four - nine - two, we’ re deviating just a little
bit left of course for weather.

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 CC: Airline four - niner - two, Center Control, left deviation approved, after
deviation fly direct to Omano.

A492: Roger, after deviation, direct Omano, Airline four - nine - two.

2. Comprehension and Negotiating of Meaning

The difficulty of comprehension in the radio channel makes the negotiation of

meaning a critical skill in Aviation English. Comprehension is especially difficult in
portions of the flight that involve the exchange of a great deal of rapidly presented
information essential to flight safety, such as take-off and landing. At busy airports,
approach controllers communicate concurrently with multiple aircraft at differing
stages of flight. The pilot must attend to all of the information given and provide a
read back to ensure comprehension accuracy.

3. Cognitive Load and Comprehension

As we have illustrated above, comprehension of complex information is

central to safe and effective communication in the aviation domain. In most
exchanges, information flows from the controller to the pilot, making the
comprehension skills of the pilot critical. The ability of flight crews to understand
and manage radio communication is directly related to the cognitive load imposed on
them by other tasks.

4. Politeness and Mitigation

As we have seen, the role of politeness markers in Aviation English is

contested. Such plain English phrases are proscribed in official training as impeding
the efficiency of the information, and they are discouraged by aviation - based
researchers.

In a study of communication in the cockpit, Linde (1988) found that

hierarchical relationships among members of the flight crew had a complex impact
on their interactions. In reviewing transcripts of cockpit recorder data from eight
aviation accidents, she found that requests made by more junior co - pilots to the

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captain were more likely to be mitigated or indirect. For example, she cites a case of
an aircraft that overran the runway because of excessive speed. While the aircraft
was approaching the runway too quickly, the co - pilot mentioned a tailwind and the
possible slowness of the flaps, which reduce the speed. After the accident, he
indicated that he had been trying to suggest to the captain that the plane was going
too fast, but he had not explicitly and directly stated his observation. The captain did
not interpret these indirect statements as warnings. Politeness markers and mitigated
requests are even more contested features in the context of pilot –controller
communication

5. Aviation English Curriculum Development and Testing

In English for specific purposes teaching and testing, the task of the
curriculum or test designer is to mirror as accurately as possible the language, tasks,
and contexts of the target language situation. The discourse - based studies we have
discussed above provide background on authentic aviation discourse that would be of
value for those wishing to create authentic materials.

The testing of Aviation English has been the subject of numerous studies,
particularly in response to the new ICAO proficiency requirements. Even before the
new ICAO policy was established, testing of non - native speaking aviation
professionals incorporated the distinctive interactional language features of
radiotelephony in their design.