Some Aspects of Teaching Aviation English

Victoria Piven (( Kropyvnytskyy, Ukraine)

How is teaching aviation English different from teaching general English? This often stems from the perception that teaching aviation English is the same thing as teaching general English. In fact, it's more about helping learners develop their English skills for use in aviation context. Here are some tips to get aviation English teaching off to a good start:

Find out what students really want to achieve. As for specification for aviators teaching we should pay attention that very often we teach not only young students but busy adults who are used to working towards objectives. We should therefore discuss with them at the beginning of the course what they would realistically like to achieve. This usually means breaking things down into skills. Teachers should help set these objectives by analyzing the needs of the learners early on. This 'needs analysis' can then be shared with the learners and referred to as a way of keeping them engaged and motivated throughout the course. Bear in mind t that their jobs (pilots, ATC controllers, flight managers, aviation engineers, search and rescue officers, etc.) are really specific.

Get a clear idea about the contexts in which learners use English. Different aviation professions have different goals of English knowledge. A very important part of the needs analysis process should be a discussion about the context in which the course participants need to perform: Why are they learning English? Who do they communicate with in their work and under what conditions? Someone who is learning English just to brush up fluency skills will have different needs and expectations to someone who is learning English to communicate during the flight or working in another country. We should also remember that aviation is conducted on a global level and there is a strong possibility that your students will be communicating with other non-native speakers. It's a good idea to research cross-cultural communication and find out how people from different backgrounds do this. You can find lots of resources on the internet relating to cross-cultural communication, real situation, “1001 Air Crashes” films and many others.

Choose your materials wisely. As in the general English classroom, learners will expect you to bring materials to class. There are lots of books and online resources available, but it's important to choose materials that create 'authentic' situations in the classroom. Probably the most important resource is the learners themselves. They can provide you with real materials from their working lives - the things they need to read and understand, or perhaps even create and present. These could be leaflets, aviation incidents and accidents, You Tube information, which they can present in reports, case-situations or discussions. Students will probably expect you to take some of these resources and create your own worksheets from them. This shouldn’t be a harrowing experience though! Don’t forget: concentrate on goals and needs. Find out why these resources are important and what your learners want to take away from the lesson. Then come to an agreement with them about how to meet these needs and try to discuss this problem together. We should consider that students of different aviation professions have different subjects for studying, so different content of educational material.

Aviation English teaching can be very interesting and rewarding. Although teaching pilots or air traffic controllers requires a variety of skills and techniques, it mostly boils down to good preparation and a professional approach.

Another important strategy when teaching English is to have your student practice common phrases until they feel completely comfortable with those phrases. This technique is often used with pilots and ATC controllers, who have to speak English clear and distinctly to be understandable during the flight in the air. It allows the student to focus heavily on correct pronunciation and accent. For example, teaching the English equivalent of common requests, questions can go a far way towards teaching English language arts. It's important when teaching any language to focus on the most useful and common phrases first (in our case according to main international aviation documents of International Civil Aviation Organization and regulations of Eurocontrol), so your students are able to start conversing right away. There are hundreds of English teaching guides that will help you choose what sorts of phrases and words to focus on first, depending on specialty

One more advice: don’t forget to be active and interactive. Students interact during chain drills or when taking roles in dialogues, most interaction is between teacher and student initiated by the teacher. You are the leader at the lesson, but you can give this role to the students sometimes. Why not? They can suggest their methods at the lesson, your task is not to be an obvious leader and to comply with their rules. At the same time you should try to control the situation innoticeable. This method was developed mainly to reduce the stressassociated with language learning; students are not forced to speak before they are ready and learning is made as enjoyable as much as possible.

References:

1.Harwood N.  English Language Teaching. Materials, Theory and Practice/   N.Harwood, Cambrige University Press, 2010.- 488 p.

2. Hedge T.   Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom: A Guide to Current Ideas about the Theory and Practice of English Language Teaching/ T.Hedge, Oxford, 2000.- 464 p.

3.Sue E., Terence G.  English for Aviation ( for Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers)/    E. Sue , G. Terence, Oxford, 2001.- 95 p.