Teaching English to Aircraft Maintenance Students: Challenges and Needs

Abstract

Aviation English is a specialized language mainly used in aviation, such as in aircraft maintenance areas. Teaching Aviation English usually faces more challenges compared with teaching general English. It pays more attention to the specific needs of learners and the language in the context. Therefore, this study aimed to discuss the challenges of English teachers in teaching English to aircraft maintenance students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the three English teachers from three different aviation schools in Malaysia. The data were analyzed thematically and managed by ATLAS.ti software. Overall, the findings showed that the teachers face challenges in teaching and designing Aviation English materials, activities, and syllabi. It was revealed that there was a shortage of textbooks and materials on Aviation English. Another challenge is related to the student's motivation and language proficiency and teachers' excessive workload. Meanwhile, in terms of needs, they should have support in some aspects like teaching materials sources and Aviation English training. Besides that, there is a need for the teachers to collaborate with people from the industry in order to find out their requirements and revise the English course accordingly. The revealed challenges and needs would help the teachers and learning institutions develop solutions to fulfill the needs of the teachers and aviation students.