The Case for an Aviation English Screening Tool for US Flight Schools

This article makes the case for an aviation English test which screens and assesses incoming non-native English-speaking flight students to US flight training organizations. The need for such a test arises from the lack of standardization in flight students’ aviation English proficiency assessments throughout their flight training and the potential negative consequences of inadequate proficiency for students, training centers, and other stakeholders. Looking into proficiency tests that are used as screening measures in other domains, it becomes clear that an adequate screening test for flight training candidates is needed. An existing proficiency test specifically designed for flight and ATC training candidates is also discussed. Results of this investigation point to two main conclusions: first, there is a need for a deeper understanding of the flight training domain through observation, collection and analysis of written and spoken texts in a variety of genres and registers that are typical of the flight training context; second, the necessity remains for a screening tool that takes into account the specificities of the flight training domain.