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Home > EPTA > Training Course |
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By this time, most contracting states of the International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) are busy preparing
themselves to comply with the new mandate imposed
upon them by the organization. This mandate requires
all member states to ensure that all their respective
pilots and air traffic controllers (ATC) involved
in international routes must be able to demonstrate
an acceptable level of English listening and speaking
skill, confirmed by successful completion of an ICAO-approved
proficiency test. Proponents of this new requirement
have high hopes that air accidents due to miscommunications
will be reduced substantially upon its implementation.
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Aviation personnel (pilots and ATCs) who are not yet ready
to take the listening and speaking test are advised to take
English refresher or training course. Unfortunately, general
English courses alone fall short to cover the context of
aviation English. Specialized aviation English trainings
were designed for this purpose. This field, however, is
still in its infancy that organizations involved in aviation
English training are facing shortage of aviation-specific
training material. |
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This manual was developed to fill this gap - even only
partially. It consists of five main topics carefully selected
to strengthen one¡¯s foundation of English as used in the
field of aviation. These are English grammar, reading, pronunciation,
listening and speaking. The user of this manual has the
option of offering the course on a modular basis or on a
month-long program with different topics in four weeks to
break the monotony, especially for long topics such as speaking
and listening. Weekend tests were also included to monitor
the progress of the learner and to enable him/her to prepare
in advance for the real test. In addition, a topic on the
ICAO requirements, test design, and test evaluation was
also included to make the learner aware of what are expected
of him/her in order to pass a certain proficiency level. |
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This manual is intended for use as a training material
for those who belong to the elementary level (Level 2) and
below. It is hoped that after finishing the course, the
learner has reached, at least, the pre-operational level
(Level 3) and ready to take the course that would help him/her
attain the operational level (Level 4). |
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The Grammar Module includes nouns, verbs, adjectives,
adverbs and selected topics on correct usages. These are
the foundations of sentence structures and word orders.
The reading module consists of articles regarding aviation,
aircraft, aircraft operations, air traffic control, air
safety, etc. These articles are carefully selected to enrich
the learner¡¯s vocabulary. One of the language descriptors
required by ICAO is pronunciation. The topics in the pronunciation
module were carefully selected to develop the learner¡¯s
ability to produce intelligible English words as required
in radiotelephony communication. In this module, the basics
of English pronunciation are tackled. In all other succeeding
lessons, however, correct pronunciation will always be observed
along with grammar and correct usage. In the listening module,
the learners will listen to recorded clips, conversations,
descriptions, etc. In each topic, learners are given helpful
tips on how to improve their listening skills that would
enable them to understand what they are listening to, despite
outside noise, interferences and other distractions. The
manual also include effective ways on how to make clarifications
when one does not understand what the other is saying. The
speaking module is very useful in honing one¡¯s ability to
express himself/herself. There are a lot of exercises from
simple conversations such as asking questions, giving directions,
role plays, sharing opinions, to highly technical conversations
such as giving reports and radiotelephony conversations.
In all of the different topics in the different modules,
the manual was designed to include aviation English as far
as possible except phraseologies and radiotelephony. |
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