People’s Democratic Republic Of

Algeria Ministry Of Higher Education And Scientific Research

University Of Mostapha Stambouli Mascara

Faculty of Letters and Languages Departement of Englis

Presented by :
Hamdache Houda
Yakhou Ibtissem
ENGLISH FOR
AVIATION
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
FACTORS THAT
INFLUENCE
DEFINITION DISCOURSE
OF ENGLISH VARIATION IN
FOR AVIATION ENGLISH
AVIATION

DESCRIPTION OF THE
DIFFERENT TYPES OF LEVELS OF
DISCOURSE USED IN
ENGLISH FOR DISCOURSE
AVIATION ANALYSIS
 INTRODUCTION

English is the global language of communication in business, economics, science, and technology, and its
importance is increasing due to workplace changes and technological advancements. Professionals like
pilots and air traffic controllers must have strong English
proficiency to succeed in their fields, and efforts are being made to improve proficiency
worldwide.
DEFINITION OF
ENGLISH FOR
AVIATION
Aviation English, a blend of professional jargon and plain
English, was recommended by the International Civil
Aviation Organization in 1951 as the lingua franca of the sky,
and soon became mandatory for all pilots involved in
international flight
 Factors influence discourse variation

LINGUISTIC Speech intelligibility

FACTORS
04

01 03

CONTEXTS AND 02
EXPECTATIONS
Paralinguistic Factors
 Context and expectations (Pragmatics)
•Grayson and Billings (1981) found that many pilot-controller
misunderstandings can be attributed to expectations that lead the
listener to hear what he or she was expecting to hear instead of what
was actually said.

• The expectation of a particular instruction can prime a pilot to

mistake an unrelated communication for the anticipated instruction.
 Speech intelligibility
•The intelligibility of non-native speakers depends on the extent to which their
languages share phonological and grammatical features with English.
Native speakers of these languages must make a special effort to learn to
differentiate between these sounds (Fry, 1977).
•Therefore, according to ICAO, native English speakers must familiarize
themselves with the dangers of cross-cultural communications (Mathews, 2004).
•All parties must make a concerted effort to know the potential issues that can
arise related to speech intelligibility.
 PARALINGUISTIC FACTORS
• According to Shames & Wigg (1990), paralinguistic factors can
change the form and the meaning of sentences by acting across
individual sounds or words of a sentence.
• In one particular instance that led to an accident, ATC did not perceive
the severity of a flight's fuel crisis because controllers did not perceive a
change in stress or pitch in communications with the crew (Fegyveresi,
1997).
LEVELS OF
DISCOURSE
ANALYSIS
 AT THE LEXICAL LEVEL
• Adjectives: are used in the
attributive position to premodify
nouns related to direction, speed,
or weather intensity
• Verbs: are most commonly
used when giving instructions,
with lexical verbs (full verbs)
being the most common.
• A phrasal verb: is provided if
the verb was not used separately
to express an action the pilot is
instructed to do
• Specialized terminology:
Aviation phraseology contains a
set of words and phrases called
standard expressions. Each of
these expressions has a precise
meaning, often exclusive to the
aviation environment.
 At the grammatical level
• Air traffic phraseology is a simplified English language
that emphasizes conciseness and simplicity
• It consists of simple sentences, compound sentences, and
complex sentences.
• Simple sentences are used for single instructions, while
compound sentences join multiple instructions into one
message.
•There are three major syntactic types: declaratives,
interrogatives, and imperatives.
Interrogatives are discourse functions
used to seek information, often in the
form of yes-no questions.
In air traffic phraseology, they are usually
answered with affirmation or negative
reason.
Imperatives are directives and give
instructions, usually not used by pilots.
Block language, a phenomenon found in
newspaper headlines, advertisements,
notices, or labels, is suitable for
phraseology as it aims to use as few
words as possible.
Radio messages are often shortened to an
isolated noun phrase, especially during a
read back.
Examples of interrogatives and
imperatives include: 1. Lima Mike:
descend Flight level 7-0. 2. Charlie
Tango: proceed to Papa Romeo 5-3-0. 3.
Ryanair: Romeo 4.
 CONCLUSION
1. Mastering general English for aviation paves the way for
seamless communication in the global aviation industry.
Whether you’re an aspiring pilot, air traffic controller, or
simply a part of the staff, fluency in this language opens
the door to career advancement, improved operational
efficiency, and, above all, enhanced safety. Armed with
the right strategies and tools, your journey through the
language of the skies can indeed be a rewarding one.
 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
• Manual of Radiotelephony. Montreal: International Civil Aviation Organization, 2007. Print.

•International Civil Aviation Organization, 2010.

•"EFL Teaching Terminology." EFL Teaching Terminology and Glossary. International
Teacher Training Organization, n.d. Web. 7 May 2015).

•”Status of English Language Standard for Use in Civil Aviation.” ICAO, April 2003. Web.
•Wang, Aiguo. "Reassessing the Position of Aviation English: From a Special Language to
English for Specific Purposes." Ibérica 15 (2008): 151-63.