ICAO Language Proficiency Requirements — Rated Speech Samples

Language Proficiency Rating

General Remarks

The test taker demonstrates proficiency at the Operational Level in Pronunciation, Vocabulary, Fluency, and Interactions. He needs to place special emphasis on his listening comprehension and the use of basic sentence structure to satisfy the overall demands of Level 4.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is generally clear. There are a number of sounds that reflect a native language influence (sink “å
à*think”å
Ø*, sirty “å
à*thirty”å
Ø*, bof “å
à*both”å
Ø*, varning “å
à*warning”å
Ø*, but these do not interfere with comprehensibility.

However, other problems with individual sounds or articulation of words do sometimes interfere with meaning:

• At first time, is uh, I was going, I was working in uh apron (apron control) (01:32 - 01:38)
• And, uh uh at Tuesday evening, at 7 o'clock, beginning of the, uh, uh and uh shift, for the nigh (night) shift, and we are going, working to uh Wednesday 7 o'clock, so also twelve years (hours). And after, we have uh 36 hours free. (03:28 - 03:52)
• So we have to uh, make a separation at least 1,000 feet (between) both (of) them. (04:46 - 04:53)

Some final sounds are not pronounced:

• And, uh uh at Tuesday evening, at 7 o'clock, beginning of the, uh, uh and uh shift, for the nigh (night) shift, and we are going, working to uh Wednesday 7 o'clock (03:28 - 03:46)

There are some times when the test taker's voice becomes too soft at the end of phrases to be intelligible:

• at all, as you know, and uh, it should be done (06:23 - 06:32)

Structure

Basic grammatical and sentence structures systematically lack control. For example, singular and plural, past and present are often confused:

• because they have to decide it, one person, from flight, so because when somebody had stay in that airplane, they had no chance at all, I think, nothing to do, so it must be the problem solved in the ground. (05:20 - 05:45)
• It nos, uh doesn't uh a regional airport, it was uh in the sky (07:10 - 07:16)
• Two aircrafts (aircraft) uh was (were) moving *** one point, but uh one of them are (was) requesting descent, but uh (the) two aircrafts (aircraft) was (were in) two, two different uh airspace (07:17 - 07:32)
• and the the pilots is (have) received a TCAS warning of each (10:29 - 10:34)

More fundamentally, sentence structure sometimes breaks down leaving the listener in doubt about what is actually meant:

• and when the two aircrafts is closer more than, more than uh less than five miles, that is very dangerous (04:25 - 04:34)
• so because when somebody had stay in that airplane, they had no chance at all, I think, nothing to do (05:27 - 05:36)

Vocabulary

The test taker possesses the basic vocabulary he needs for standard work-related topics:

• shift, apron, separation

He does make a few mistakes in work-related terminology but these do not interfere with understanding:

• in the simulatory (06:15 - 06:17)
• the [deleted] pilot its its going down (09:13 - 09:17)

Fluency

The test taker produces stretches of speech at a tempo that is just adequate with hesitations mainly occurring during a change of subject. He knows how to use a very limited range of discourse markers correctly.

• and ... then (00:43 - 01:47)
• and by this time (01:08 - 01:10)
• for example (03:10 - 03:12)
• So (04:46 - 04:54)

Comprehension

The test taker's aural comprehension is generally accurate on routine topics, but he failed to understand several key questions:

• Interlocutor: And where did you where did you get your training as an air traffic controller? Test taker: At 1978 (01:53 - 02:01)
• Interlocutor: Was it a regional airport? Test taker: Pardon. Interlocutor: Was it a regional airport? Test taker: Region. Interlocutor: Regional? Test taker: Regional? (07:04 - 07:10)
• Interlocutor: And who investigates them? (10:39 - 10:53) when he confuses a general and a specific question.

Interactions

The test taker manages to maintain communication expressively with the interlocutor throughout an extended interview. His answers are usually immediate and informative despite the restricted use of structures and discourse markers. In some cases, he uses repetition of the interlocutor's phrase or questions to clarify, check or confirm:

• Interlocutor: Could you tell something about the major, uh the interesting aspects of your work? Test taker: Respectoras? (05:44 - 05:52)
• Interlocutor: Was it a regional airport? Test taker: Pardon. Interlocutor: Was it a regional airport? Test taker: Region. Interlocutor: Regional? Test taker: Regional? (07:04 - 07:10)

In many cases, he effectively uses these strategies to deal with the misunderstandings.

Influence of the test format

The interlocutor intervenes frequently to provide vocabulary and re-phrase utterances when the test taker hesitates in responding. This overly cooperative listener behaviour may have prevented the test taker from displaying a full range of interaction strategies. Also, the test format includes neither a variety of accents nor unexpected circumstances and complications, and it therefore does not allow a full evaluation of all the ICAO language proficiency skills.