This course is for linguistic or operational experts  involved in developing, administering, managing, and rating Oral Proficiency Interview assessments for the aviation industry.

Through this course, participants will gain an understanding of:

• An introduction to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), including background to aviation language testing policies and a familiarisation with relevant ICAO documentation, especially Document 9835 (2010)
• A description of aviation safety issues and discussion of historical accidents with a communication component
• A description and detailed analysis of the ICAO Language Proficiency Rating Scale including listening to expert rated sample speech files
• A lesson in Aviation English: phraseology, vocabulary and sentence structures used in the aviation context; distinguishing between phraseology and ‘plain language’
• An exploration of the various Aviation English proficiency tests
• Extensive practical rating examples, group calibration and standard setting
• Practice and instruction in interlocution, conducting different elements of a test, using other raters and also ‘mock’ candidates
• Detailed exploration of the rating scale commentary in Doc 9835 (2010) and its implications for effective and accurate rating
• An in-depth examination of each of the six skill elements in the rating scale and their implications.