Radio Miscommunication
EL2 Pilots in the Australian General Aviation Environment
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.v5i3.351Keywords:
aviation English, radio communicationAbstract
Communicating effectively via the radio in General Aviation (GA) is a challenging task for most pilots. This is even more challenging for non-native speakers of English (EL2) who are required to master not only a second language but “Aviation English” to communicate with both Air Traffic Control (ATC) and other pilots. In two pilot studies conducted in Eastern Australia, we investigated the ability of GA pilots, both native and non-native speakers of English, to effectively communicate with ATC and with other pilots over the radio, in order to assess the contribution of native language to incidents of miscommunication and the impact it may have on air safety. The results revealed that indeed communication is difficult for EL2 pilots as well as native pilots. Irrespective of native language, pilots found communicating with one another the most challenging task while communicating with ATC was found to be the least challenging. These results are discussed from an operational perspective.
References
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CASA (2009) Airspace Review of Bathurst Aerodrome. March 2009. URL: http://www.casa. gov.au/scripts/nc.dll?WCMS:STANDARD:1001:pc=PC_90447.
Cushing, S. (1994) Fatal Words: Communication Clashes and Aircraft Crashes. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
Drury, C. G. and Ma, J. (2002) Language Error Analysis – Report on Literature of Aviation Language Errors and Analysis of Error Databases. Report prepared for the FAA. University of Buffalo, State University of New York.
Estival, D. and Molesworth, B. (2009) A study of EL2 pilots’ radio communication in the General Aviation environment. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 32 (3): 24.1–24.16.
Falzon, P. (2009). Discourse segmentation and the management of multiple tasks in single episodes of air traffic controller-pilot spoken radio communication.
Farris, C., Trofimovich, P., Segalowitz, N. and Gatbonton, E. (2008). Air traffic communication in a second language: Implications of cognitive factors for training and assessment. TESOL Quarterly 42 (3): 397–410.
Gat, I. B. and Robert. K. W. (1978) An effect of linguistic experience. Auditory word discrimination by native and non-native speakers of English. Audiology 14 (4): 339–345. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/00206097809101303
Goguen J. A. and Linde, C. (1983) Linguistic Methodology for the Analysis of Aviation Accidents. NASA Contract Report 3741.
Helmreich, R. L. (1994) Anatomy of a system accident: The crash of Avianca Flight 052. The International Journal of Aviation Psychology 4 (3): 265–284. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/ s15327108ijap0403_4
Hutchins, E. and Klausen, T. (1996) Distributed cognition in an airline cockpit. In Y. Engström and D. Middleton (eds). Cognition and Communication at Work, 15–34. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Illman, P. (1998) The Pilot’s Radio Communication Handbook (5th edn). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Isaac, A. (2007) Effective communication in the aviation environment: work in progress. Hindsight 5: 31–34.
Linde, C. (1988) Politeness and accidents in aviation discourse: The quantitative study of communicative success. Language in Society 17 (3): 375–399. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/ S0047404500012951
MacBurnie, E. (2004) Aviation language proficiency. ICAO Journal 59 (1): 4–27.
Matthews, E. (2004) New provisions for English language proficiency requirements are expected to improve aviation safety. ICAO Journal 59 (1): 4-6.
Mayo, L. H., Florentine, M. and Buus, S. (1997) Age of second-language acquisition and perception of speech in noise. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research 40 (3): 686–693.
McMillan, D. (1998) ‘… Say again?…’ Miscommunications in Air Traffic Control. Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology.
Mell, J. (2006) Emergency Calls – Messages out of the Blue. Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile. URL: http://www.icao.int/anb/sg/pricesg/background/OotB.htm.
Nevile, M. and Walker, M. (2005) A Context for Error: Using Conversational Analysis to Represent and Analyse Recorded Voice Data. Report prepared for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. ATSB Aviation Research Report B2005/0108.
Nevile, M. (2008) Being out of order: Overlapping talk as evidence of trouble in airline pilots’ work. In V. K. Bhatia, J. Flowerdew and R. H. Jones (eds) Advances in Discourse Studies, 36–50. Abingdon: Routledge.
Nevile, M. (2007) Action in time: ensuring timeliness for collaborative work in the airline cockpit. Language in Society 36 (2): 233–257.
Nevile, M. (2006) Communication in Context: A Conversational Analysis Tool for Examining Recorded Voice Data in Investigations of Aviation Occurrences. Report prepared for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. ATSB Research and Analysis Report B2005/0118.
Nevile, M. (2005) ‘Checklist complete’ Or is it? Closing a task in the airline cockpit. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 28 (2): 60–76.
Nevile, M. (2001) Understanding who’s who in the airline cockpit: pilots’ pronominal choices and cockpit roles. In A. McHoul and M. Rapley (eds), How to Analyse Talk in Institutional Settings: A Casebook of Methods. London and New York: Continuum.
Oliveira, K. (2007) Command of English would have prevented Brazil’s worst air tragedy ever’. URL: http://www.brazzimag.com. Tuesday 20 February 2007.
Prinzo, V. O. (2008) The computation and effects of air traffic control message complexity and message length on pilot readback performance. Proceedings of Measuring Behavior 2008, Maastricht, The Netherlands, 188–189.
Shannon, C. E. (1948) A mathematical theory of communication. The Bell System Technical Journal 27: 379–423, 623–656. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1. 1.161.4366&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Shimizu, T., Makishima, K., Yoshida, M. and Yamagishi, H. (2002) Effect of background noise on perception of English speech for Japanese listeners. Auris Nasus Larynx 29 (2), 121–125. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0385-8146(01)00133-X
Published
2012-02-07
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Estival, D., & Molesworth, B. (2012). Radio Miscommunication: EL2 Pilots in the Australian General Aviation Environment. Linguistics and the Human Sciences, 5(3), 351-378. https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.v5i3.351
