English for Stressful Situations
This small group 1 week course is available in Oxford and Cambridge and is designed for pilots and air traffic controllers who need to develop their skills and competency in English to deal with non-routine situations within an aviation context. The course is designed to help participants cope in stressful situations and so reduce human error in communications. You can take the course in April, May, September or October.
The course is intensive. Each class has a maximum of 6 participants and there are 25 hours a week including visits to aviation museums or airfields and talks from aviation professionals. The course uses scenarios and case studies and there is also a weekly personal coaching session to discuss progress and set and appraise learning goals. It is suitable for aviation professionals from ICAO Level 4 upwards.
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Sample timetable
| Aviation English - English for Stressful Situations |
| 09.00-10.00 |
Skills Training |
| 10.00-10.15 |
Break |
| 10.15-11.15 |
Accuracy under stress |
| 11.15-11.30 |
Break |
| 11.30-12.30 |
Active Scenario |
| 12.30-13.30 |
Lunch |
| 13.30-14.30 |
Vocabulary Focus |
| 14.30-14.45 |
Break |
| 14.45-15.45 |
Spoken performance |
Skills Training
Improve listening and speaking skills and develop a range of strategies to cope with stressful situations. This includes flight approach and landing, and aspects of flight management for pilots such as staffing, dealing with special requests, fuel and weather management.
Accuracy Under Stress
Providing techniques and gain practise in speaking accurately in non-routine and stressful situations such as those above.
Active Scenario
Use scenarios and role play to refine your analysis, judgement and linguistic skills. This sessions also helps to refine skills in giving opinions, decision making, reaching agreements, assigning tasks and problem solving.
Vocabulary Focus
Study aviation related vocabulary related to aviation related scenarios including coordinates, navigation, weather conditions, technical failures, communications, measurement, medical emergencies, movement and manoeuvring.
Spoken Performance
A chance to put skills into practise. This sessions allows participants to further their speaking skills by incorporating feedback from teachers.
At ICAO rating scale level 4 (Operational) you can do the following:
Pronunciation Structure
Assumes a dialect and/or accent intelligible to the aeronautical community.
Pronunciation, stress, rhythm, and intonation are influenced by the first language or regional variation but only sometimes interfere with ease of understanding.
Structure
Relevant grammatical structures and sentence patterns are determined by language functions appropriate to the task.
Basic grammatical structures and sentence patterns are used creatively and are usually well controlled. Errors may occur, particularly in unusual or unexpected circumstances, but rarely interfere with meaning.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary range and accuracy are usually sufficient to communicate effectively on common, concrete, and work related topics. Can often paraphrase successfully when lacking vocabulary in unusual or unexpected circumstances.
Fluency
Produces stretches of language at an appropriate tempo. There may be an occasional loss of fluency on transition from rehearsed or formulaic to spontaneous interaction, but this does not prevent effective communication. Can make limited use of discourse markers or connectors. Fillers are not distracting.
Comprehension
Comprehension is mostly accurate on common, concrete, and work related topics when the accent or variety used is sufficiently intelligible for an international community of users. When the speaker is confronted with a linguistic or situational complication or an unexpected turn of events, comprehension may be slower or require clarification strategies.
Interactions
Responses are usually immediate, appropriate, and informative. Initiates and maintains exchanges even when dealing with an unexpected turn of events. Deals frequently with apparent misunderstandings by checking, confirming or clarifying.
For more detailed information regarding where this description sits within the ICAO rating scale, please download the full rating scale here.
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At ICAO rating scale level 5 (Extended) you can do the following:
Pronunciation Structure
Assumes a dialect and/or accent intelligible to the aeronautical community.
Pronunciation, stress, rhythm, and intonation, though influenced by the first language or regional variation, rarely interfere with ease of understanding.
Structure
Relevant grammatical structures and sentence patterns are determined by language functions appropriate to the task.
Basic grammatical structures and sentence patterns are consistently well controlled. Complex structures are attempted but with errors which sometimes interfere with meaning.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary range and accuracy are often sufficient to communicate effectively on common, concrete, and work related topics. Paraphrases consistently and successfully. Vocabulary is sometimes idiomatic.
Fluency
Able to speak at length with relative ease on familiar topics, but may not vary speech flow as a stylistic device. Can make use of appropriate discourse markers or connectors.
Comprehension
Comprehension is accurate on common, concrete, and work related topics and mostly accurate when the speaker is confronted with a linguistic or situational complication or an unexpected turn of events. Is able to comprehend a range of speech varieties (dialect and/or accent) or registers.
Interactions
Responses are immediate, appropriate, and informative. Manages the speaker/listener relationship effectively.
For more detailed information regarding where this description sits within the ICAO rating scale, please download the full rating scale here.
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At ICAO rating scale level 6 (Expert) you can do the following:
Pronunciation Structure
Assumes a dialect and/or accent intelligible to the aeronautical community.
Pronunciation, stress, rhythm, and intonation, though possibly influenced by the first language or regional variation, almost never interfere with ease of understanding.
Structure
Relevant grammatical structures and sentence patterns are determined by language functions appropriate to the task.
Both basic and complex grammatical structures and sentence patterns are consistently well controlled.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary range and accuracy are sufficient to communicate effectively on a wide variety of familiar and unfamiliar topics. Vocabulary is idiomatic, nuanced, and sensitive to register.
Fluency
Able to speak at length with a natural, effortless flow. Varies speech flow for stylistic effect, e.g. to emphasise a point. Uses appropriate discourse markers and connectors spontaneously.
Comprehension
Comprehension is consistently accurate in nearly all contexts and includes comprehension of linguistic and cultural subtleties.
Interactions
Interacts with ease in nearly all situations. Is sensitive to verbal and non-verbal cues, and responds to them appropriately.
For more detailed information regarding where this description sits within the ICAO rating scale, please download the full rating scale here.
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Fees 2019
Course price: £737
Course dates:
Oxford:
TBC
Cambridge:
TBC
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