WAME - WHERE AVIATION MEETS ENGLISH
Presentation : ESP teachers x SME - Teaching ab intio pilots Cybele Gallo
This presentation was revised by Prof Armando Silvério.
The role cards for the sample lesson were developed by Prof Bruno de Souza Macedo.
There has been a lot of discussion about how much specific knowledge ESP teachers should have to be good aviation English teachers. Conversely, it is also debatable how much pedagogical knowledge should SMEs possess to be efficient language teachers.
This presentation aims to point out to how the limitations of an ESP teacher who lacks the knowledge of some specialized areas of aviation English can hamper the teaching/ learning process of pilots. This will be better demonstrated when I start sharing with you my experiences and challenges while teaching ab inito pilots at the university.
I will offer you some examples of the importance of having this technical knowledge along with the knowledge of the fundamental principles, theories and methodologies of teaching /learning ESL, through sample activities from the book I have chosen to use at the university, where I have been teaching ab initio pilots. Before, however, I would like to briefly describe my experience while teaching qualified pilots.
(In retrospect) most of the pilots that I had taught or who had looked for classes at our school were experienced pilots.
Their motivation to learn the language was always more likely to be extrinsic: to pass the English tests applied by the airlines as part of the recruitment process or for promotion, and more recently to pass the ANAC’s test.
Because there was a general assumption that these pilots knew how to communicate well using phraseology, our courses were geared to the area of English for General Aviation Purposes in order to meet their more urgent needs and wants . I describe EGAP as “ the language needed by pilots for briefings, announcements, flight deck communication; to communicate with maintenance technicians, flight dispatchers, managers and officials within the aviation industry, to interact with controllers when the standard phraseology is not enough or hasn’t been conceived yet for determined situations. “
Despite the fact that experienced crew has the background knowledge which can reduce the need of an ESP teacher to struggle to master highly specialized areas of aviation English, there are several reasons that influenced us to keep on looking for ways to improve our technical knowledge :
●to minimize any damage we can cause if we provide our students with inaccurate, misleading information or explanations;
●to contextualize the language items we aim to teach;
●to set work-related scenarios and therefore make the lessons relevant to the students;
● to create real-world problem solving situations, and consequently make the lessons meaningful for the students;
●to be taken seriously by the students;
●to foster materials’ face validity;
●to keep students motivated.
To become more specialized field is a task which is easier said than done. However, we can start by:
›attending simulator sessions;
›resolving our doubts by speaking to the most experienced pilots we know;
›reading specialist text books and flight magazines;
› relying on all available internet resources;
›working with SMEs ;
The ideal situation would be to have a SME in a classroom with us, but this it is impracticable from several points of view: time constraints, schedules, high costs. We realized that a coordination strategy (by consulting or employing an SME ) can work smoothly and effectively and that cooperation can be useful for both professionals - the ESP teacher will get more information about the needs for the target situations, while SMEs can become more aware of the students’ language problems.
In my present situation we are fortunate to work with three SMEs.We have regular meetings with a Training Captain who consults with us. We arrange our meetings according to his and our schedules. We also have two qualified and experienced Air Traffic Controllers as part of our teaching staff.
Some people believe that meeting the specific needs of experienced crew does not demand a lot of specialization in the subject matter because the teachers wont have to explain , for instance, what a secondary radar is, or how to select the runway numbers . The major concern during a class should be with language learning for practical communication tasks in day to day aviation communications.
I have selected one lesson to demonstrate how , to a certain extent , I agree on this point of view.
Sample Lesson :
MAIN FOCUS: REVIEW OF VERB TENSES
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
I. St is introduced to ways of checking the meaning of verb tenses
II. Present more controlled exercises to practice the distinction of verb tenses.
III. St is introduced to ways of providing practice
I- Read the report below and answer the questions:
1. How do we know that sentences 1, 2,7 and 8 refer to completed actions in the past?
2. How would substituting was doing and was trying by did and tried change the meaning of sentences 3, 4?
3. Would changing the first conditional for the second conditional alter the meaning of the sentence 13?
4. Is the choice of the modal must in sentence 11 crucial to the meaning of the sentence?
5. How do we know that the pilots made an error in sentence 14?
(1)Inbound to PHX on the EAGUL Arrival at FL 380, ATC issued : "Cross 15 miles
This presentation aims to point out to how the limitations of an ESP teacher who lacks the knowledge of some specialized areas of aviation English can hamper the teaching/ learning process of pilots. This will be better demonstrated when I start sharing with you my experiences and challenges while teaching ab inito pilots at the university.
I will offer you some examples of the importance of having this technical knowledge along with the knowledge of the fundamental principles, theories and methodologies of teaching /learning ESL, through sample activities from the book I have chosen to use at the university, where I have been teaching ab initio pilots. Before, however, I would like to briefly describe my experience while teaching qualified pilots.
(In retrospect) most of the pilots that I had taught or who had looked for classes at our school were experienced pilots.
Their motivation to learn the language was always more likely to be extrinsic: to pass the English tests applied by the airlines as part of the recruitment process or for promotion, and more recently to pass the ANAC’s test.
Because there was a general assumption that these pilots knew how to communicate well using phraseology, our courses were geared to the area of English for General Aviation Purposes in order to meet their more urgent needs and wants . I describe EGAP as “ the language needed by pilots for briefings, announcements, flight deck communication; to communicate with maintenance technicians, flight dispatchers, managers and officials within the aviation industry, to interact with controllers when the standard phraseology is not enough or hasn’t been conceived yet for determined situations. “
Despite the fact that experienced crew has the background knowledge which can reduce the need of an ESP teacher to struggle to master highly specialized areas of aviation English, there are several reasons that influenced us to keep on looking for ways to improve our technical knowledge :
●to minimize any damage we can cause if we provide our students with inaccurate, misleading information or explanations;
●to contextualize the language items we aim to teach;
●to set work-related scenarios and therefore make the lessons relevant to the students;
● to create real-world problem solving situations, and consequently make the lessons meaningful for the students;
●to be taken seriously by the students;
●to foster materials’ face validity;
●to keep students motivated.
To become more specialized field is a task which is easier said than done. However, we can start by:
›attending simulator sessions;
›resolving our doubts by speaking to the most experienced pilots we know;
›reading specialist text books and flight magazines;
› relying on all available internet resources;
›working with SMEs ;
The ideal situation would be to have a SME in a classroom with us, but this it is impracticable from several points of view: time constraints, schedules, high costs. We realized that a coordination strategy (by consulting or employing an SME ) can work smoothly and effectively and that cooperation can be useful for both professionals - the ESP teacher will get more information about the needs for the target situations, while SMEs can become more aware of the students’ language problems.
In my present situation we are fortunate to work with three SMEs.We have regular meetings with a Training Captain who consults with us. We arrange our meetings according to his and our schedules. We also have two qualified and experienced Air Traffic Controllers as part of our teaching staff.
Some people believe that meeting the specific needs of experienced crew does not demand a lot of specialization in the subject matter because the teachers wont have to explain , for instance, what a secondary radar is, or how to select the runway numbers . The major concern during a class should be with language learning for practical communication tasks in day to day aviation communications.
I have selected one lesson to demonstrate how , to a certain extent , I agree on this point of view.
Sample Lesson :
MAIN FOCUS: REVIEW OF VERB TENSES
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
I. St is introduced to ways of checking the meaning of verb tenses
II. Present more controlled exercises to practice the distinction of verb tenses.
III. St is introduced to ways of providing practice
I- Read the report below and answer the questions:
1. How do we know that sentences 1, 2,7 and 8 refer to completed actions in the past?
2. How would substituting was doing and was trying by did and tried change the meaning of sentences 3, 4?
3. Would changing the first conditional for the second conditional alter the meaning of the sentence 13?
4. Is the choice of the modal must in sentence 11 crucial to the meaning of the sentence?
5. How do we know that the pilots made an error in sentence 14?
(1)Inbound to PHX on the EAGUL Arrival at FL 380, ATC issued : "Cross 15 miles
(2)east of SLIDR at 360." The First Officer and I discussed how best to set up the
(3) FMC to cope with the clearance. While I was doing the math and trying to enter
(4)the point 3 miles east of DOJOE, my First Officer was trying to delete DOJOE
(5)and create a new waypoint.
(6)We then cooperated our efforts and got the restriction correctly entered in the
(6)We then cooperated our efforts and got the restriction correctly entered in the
(7)FMC ,but we neglected to set 360 in the altitude window. Late recognition and
(8) diagnosis of why the airplane did not descend at the appropriate point led to
(9) missing the crossing restriction. When the controller gives you a crossing
(9) missing the crossing restriction. When the controller gives you a crossing
(10)restriction that is just 2000 FT below cruise altitude, there is very little time to
(11)correct a late descent. Automated descents must be carefully monitored to
(12) insure correct response .
(13)More focused attention just prior to top of descent would be key to timely
(12) insure correct response .
(13)More focused attention just prior to top of descent would be key to timely
(14)corrections. An immediate descent would have also prevented the error at negligible fuel cost.
(OPTIONAL )
II -More controlled exercise to practice distinction among the verb tenses:
1. Finish the sentences :
a. If the pilot had set 360 in the altitude window ……………………………………
b. If the pilot had descended immediately …………………………………………….
c. If they hadn’t cooperated………………………………………………………………...
2. Worst Scenarios….
Complete the dialog with words/sentences that will best fill in the gaps.
Flight Attendant1: I smell burning coming from the air conditioning.
Flight Attendant 2 : You’d better notify the Captain. If you don’t notify him right now, the cabin will ____________________________.
Flight Attendant 1: I will check the galleys first.
Flight Attendant 2: If smoke _______________ the cabin, the passengers _________________
Flight Attendant 1: Ok, You’re right. I will report it to the Captain now.
Flight Attendant 2: If the Captain is notified about smell of burning in the cabin, he _________ probably ___________________________ .
Flight Attendant 1 : And if he ____________________ to divert, I ________________________ to make one announcement to the passengers.
Flight Attendant 2: For sure. And when the passengers _______________the news , they will probably get ______________________________ .
II – LANGUAGE OUTCOME / FLUENCY
■Which other tasks must pilots perform with close attention during a flight?
■Have you or one of your colleagues already had a similar situation?
■At the airline where you work, how would your superiors react if a pilot made such an error?
While teaching experienced pilots using this lesson, I would not have to explain to them , for instance, why not setting 360 had such consequences to the flight. However, without the help of an SME I would certainly have difficulty in setting an operational context from this text and preparing a lesson that would promote the practice of real life language for this situation. I am a believer that to do so, you must have the knowledge an SME does.
That is why I agree only to a certain extent that ESP teachers don’t need to be very specialized to teach qualified pilots.
Since I started teaching at Anhembi Morumbi University, where the students haven’t yet completely acquired this specialized knowledge, I’ve faced a very different reality.
The lack of both, operational and aviation English knowledge of my students was not the only thing that influenced my teaching approach. The classes are large and non-homogeneous in terms of command of English, and generally last for almost 03 hours. Their motivation to learn the language is also of another nature. It is more likely to be intrinsic. They like to study English, they know that it is important to have a good command of the language for safety purposes. And unlike airline pilots, they don’t feel under pressure to learn.
All of these findings led me to carry out a deeper learning needs analysis and also define how I would handle this new situation.
The first thing that I did was to select a course book.
I think that there are many advantages in adopting a book to teach large groups:
› Students like to work through a well-written book, and progress to a new one.
›The teacher does not have to constantly think about what to teach, how to teach, and which material to use.
› The syllabus of a course book gives students a sense of clarity and direction.
›Furthermore, the more content-based a course book is, the more motivated to learn the language students feel.
If the book doesn’t cover vital areas or contains irrelevant material you can supplement or omit parts of it to suit your classes, as I will demonstrate throughout this presentation.
However, as the book that I selected focuses heavily on lexical items, I also needed to develop a grammar syllabus , in order to certify that my students would learn the relevant vocabulary along with the necessary basic structures that will be required for clear communications in the flying environment .
Finally, I compiled a reference list of language teaching-learning theories geared to working with large multi-level groups .
Now, I will show you to what extent I really feel comfortable teaching my students at the university. This activity is part of unit 2 of the book Cleared for Take Off 1.
CFTO BOOK 1 - UNIT 2
Lesson Plan
Focus: speaking
Aim: review and introduce vocabulary in the context of airport layout / generate interaction and negotiation to facilitate language acquisition/develop learning strategies.
Vocabulary:fence/airportboundary/refuelingpump/holdingpoint/cone marker/windsock/threshold/markings/ stripes/run up bay/hangar roof
Other areas that can be exploited: comparative :bigger/larger/stronger/passive : is broken/ are closed/ possession x to exist : there is x have
Personal aims: Give learners the opportunity to practice new vocabulary items in spoken communication
Assumptions: students will be familiar with some vocabulary related to airport layout /students have learned comparatives and superlatives
Procedures
Before the students open the book
●Elicit from Sts the relevance of studying the layout of an airport and later compare their answers with the author’s answers.
● Brainstorming (to recall and reactivate language and vocabulary.)
What are the movement areas at an airport? /what are the non movement areas?/ What are airport signs used for? /Why should pilots pay attention to the surface markings? Where should cone markers be positioned and what for?
●Activity - group work - from the supplement material for teachers (power point). Students compare 02 airport diagrams and spot the differences between them. They write down their answers.
Why working in groups?
- it maximizes students participation
- students are more likely to help each other
- dominant students can only dominate a few students at a time
- everyone can be involved at their own level
- it promotes collaboration / keeps everybody more engaged
- students learn how to compromise/they negotiate meaning/they take more risks; more advanced students can also learn while explaining to a less able student/ they can provide good models of language performance in speaking;
- the teacher can also mediate and help weaker students
Why writing?
By spoken to written, or written to spoken use of the language, they will be practicing various language skills and it would be an opportunity for the students to refine and transmit the language they have learned so far.
Optional :
●Sts do the activity in the book (pages 02 and 03) or it can be assigned as homework.
●Language outcome
- Another airport diagram is shown in the Power Point(from the task 2.10 in the book)
-Students get together in pairs
-Students receive role cards and role play
HAND OUT - Role Cards
Runway 6/24 is shorter than runway 09/27.
Vrg 123 is approaching to land on rnw 24. The pilot detects a flap failure. They don’t extend. A is the pilot / B is the ATC. Prepare a dialog and include in it the comparative form of “long”.
Taxiway Charlie doesn’t support airplanes whose wing span width is 18 meters . You are Gulfstream xxx . You leave hangar 10 to take off from rnw 09 , and the ATC clears you to proceed via Alpha, then Charlie and Bravo. A is a pilot and B is the ATC. Use the comparative form of adjective “wide”
STUDENT A : You are the pilot of a xxx. You are taxiing to rwn 09 via Delta.
STUDENT B : You are the ATC. There are men working on Delta but it is not completely obstructed. You have to inform this to the pilot and advise him to reduce his speed. (use the adjective “slow” )
You are the pilot of GOl 221. While taxiing you notice that your engine is making a funny noise. You request atc to perform a check on the main runway but permission is denied because this is not allowed at the place. Request instructions to perform your check in the right spot.
ATC wind equipment is not working. You are ready to take off from rnw 27. ATC informs you about the malfunction and asks you if you are able to take off. Prepare a possible dialog between the pilot and the ATC (use the the word “windsock”)
You are Cessna 123. AtC clears you to take off behind an A 380. Complain and tell ATC why you are requesting to take off before the A380. Here you can not use the word “ jet blast”.
NOTE :
If while monitoring the groups I realize that the students are having difficulty in using the grammar/ vocabulary correctly, I assign extra vocabulary or grammar work such as :
a. Combine information from a dictionary definition or my own knowledge
1. It is the place where airplanes perform engine checks …………………..
2.It is the place where helicopters land ………………………………………
Or
b. Meaning in context – fill each gap with an appropriate word
Once an aircraft crosses the boundary between a non-movement area such as the (1) __________or ( 2) _____________ and a movement area such as a (3) ____________, the pilot must be able to confidently and correctly follow Air Traffic Control (ATC) instructions in the same manner as when airborne. It is not easy to identify runways and (4) _______________ from the ground. Pilots need to be especially vigilant of signs and surface (5) ____________ to avoid accidentally crossing or entering an (6) ____________________runway, something which has contributed to many serious aviation accidents in the past.
Other ideas to work with the same diagram
After the students have completed the task of listening to the recording and drawing a line where the pilot is supposed to taxi, I can set up some OTHER scenarios in order to better explore this activity and create different opportunities for the target language outcome:
I ask for 2 volunteers to be the pilot and ATC. They have to make the red airplane take off from runway 27. For example, taxiway MIKE is the one that crosses runway 13.
Red airplane : ________________ (This is Cessna 123, ready to take off.)
Ground : __________________________ (Turn right and join taxiway Mike), hold short on runway 13.)
Red airplane :____________________( holding short on runway 13)
You can also practice the functions of confirming, requesting, clarifying , reporting , with some other situations:
And if the controller says: Cessna 123, turn right and join taxiway mike to runway 27?
Or
You landed on rnw 09 and vacated at the end of rnw 27. You are not familiar with this airport. Ground control contacts you:
Ground : Xxxx, turn left taxi to the ramp.
Continue this dialog.
You : _____________________ ( Negative. I am not familiar with this airport. Request progressive taxi)
Ground: _____________________________ (turn right on Mike taxiway, until the yellow hangar, then turn right until you reach Lima.)
To make the interactions of these groups contain some unknown elements so that they are not just rehearsed role plays I suggest this activity :
Using the same diagram of the previous activity:
Student A receives a slip of paper with has information that is different from student’s B.
STUDENT A: You are the pilot of a Cessna xxx. You are parked on the unpaved area. You intend to take off on rwn 27 via the taxiway Charlie.
STUDENT B: You are the ATC. There is oil spilled on taxiway Charlie. You have to give them instructions to proceed via another taxiway.
Or
Reporting position
You are the green plane, you are taxiing from the ramp to holding point of rnw 09. Student b is the ATC. The visibility is low and atc needs to know your positions while you are taxiing. You have to keep on informing where you are and what you are doing. Use the verbs: passing, entering,moving,leaving, holding,turning.
WORKSHOP ACTIVITY
I will hand out lessons/activities that I believe require a substantial knowledge of aviation terminology as well as operational procedures to be carried out by the teacher . I will ask you to get together and prepare a lesson plan for this activity. (PAG 116 /117 CLEARED FOR TAKE OFF BOOK 1 / PAGE 5 BOOK 2 ) If among the participants there are SMEs , I can separate them from the ESP teachers to compare, afterwards, how the lessons were planned.)
This is the key to this section. In English there are words and even grammar forms that are associated with certain aviation maneuvers (US = maneuvers). Not being skilled in understanding and producing these words will severely restrict the ability of the students to handle flight training conducted in English. So is the primary aim to prepare students to handle flight training by inducing them to acquire and practice the necessary language skills in context.
(OPTIONAL )
II -More controlled exercise to practice distinction among the verb tenses:
1. Finish the sentences :
a. If the pilot had set 360 in the altitude window ……………………………………
b. If the pilot had descended immediately …………………………………………….
c. If they hadn’t cooperated………………………………………………………………...
2. Worst Scenarios….
Complete the dialog with words/sentences that will best fill in the gaps.
Flight Attendant1: I smell burning coming from the air conditioning.
Flight Attendant 2 : You’d better notify the Captain. If you don’t notify him right now, the cabin will ____________________________.
Flight Attendant 1: I will check the galleys first.
Flight Attendant 2: If smoke _______________ the cabin, the passengers _________________
Flight Attendant 1: Ok, You’re right. I will report it to the Captain now.
Flight Attendant 2: If the Captain is notified about smell of burning in the cabin, he _________ probably ___________________________ .
Flight Attendant 1 : And if he ____________________ to divert, I ________________________ to make one announcement to the passengers.
Flight Attendant 2: For sure. And when the passengers _______________the news , they will probably get ______________________________ .
II – LANGUAGE OUTCOME / FLUENCY
■Which other tasks must pilots perform with close attention during a flight?
■Have you or one of your colleagues already had a similar situation?
■At the airline where you work, how would your superiors react if a pilot made such an error?
While teaching experienced pilots using this lesson, I would not have to explain to them , for instance, why not setting 360 had such consequences to the flight. However, without the help of an SME I would certainly have difficulty in setting an operational context from this text and preparing a lesson that would promote the practice of real life language for this situation. I am a believer that to do so, you must have the knowledge an SME does.
That is why I agree only to a certain extent that ESP teachers don’t need to be very specialized to teach qualified pilots.
Since I started teaching at Anhembi Morumbi University, where the students haven’t yet completely acquired this specialized knowledge, I’ve faced a very different reality.
The lack of both, operational and aviation English knowledge of my students was not the only thing that influenced my teaching approach. The classes are large and non-homogeneous in terms of command of English, and generally last for almost 03 hours. Their motivation to learn the language is also of another nature. It is more likely to be intrinsic. They like to study English, they know that it is important to have a good command of the language for safety purposes. And unlike airline pilots, they don’t feel under pressure to learn.
All of these findings led me to carry out a deeper learning needs analysis and also define how I would handle this new situation.
The first thing that I did was to select a course book.
I think that there are many advantages in adopting a book to teach large groups:
› Students like to work through a well-written book, and progress to a new one.
›The teacher does not have to constantly think about what to teach, how to teach, and which material to use.
› The syllabus of a course book gives students a sense of clarity and direction.
›Furthermore, the more content-based a course book is, the more motivated to learn the language students feel.
If the book doesn’t cover vital areas or contains irrelevant material you can supplement or omit parts of it to suit your classes, as I will demonstrate throughout this presentation.
However, as the book that I selected focuses heavily on lexical items, I also needed to develop a grammar syllabus , in order to certify that my students would learn the relevant vocabulary along with the necessary basic structures that will be required for clear communications in the flying environment .
Finally, I compiled a reference list of language teaching-learning theories geared to working with large multi-level groups .
Now, I will show you to what extent I really feel comfortable teaching my students at the university. This activity is part of unit 2 of the book Cleared for Take Off 1.
CFTO BOOK 1 - UNIT 2
Lesson Plan
Focus: speaking
Aim: review and introduce vocabulary in the context of airport layout / generate interaction and negotiation to facilitate language acquisition/develop learning strategies.
Vocabulary:fence/airportboundary/refuelingpump/holdingpoint/cone marker/windsock/threshold/markings/ stripes/run up bay/hangar roof
Other areas that can be exploited: comparative :bigger/larger/stronger/passive : is broken/ are closed/ possession x to exist : there is x have
Personal aims: Give learners the opportunity to practice new vocabulary items in spoken communication
Assumptions: students will be familiar with some vocabulary related to airport layout /students have learned comparatives and superlatives
Procedures
Before the students open the book
●Elicit from Sts the relevance of studying the layout of an airport and later compare their answers with the author’s answers.
● Brainstorming (to recall and reactivate language and vocabulary.)
What are the movement areas at an airport? /what are the non movement areas?/ What are airport signs used for? /Why should pilots pay attention to the surface markings? Where should cone markers be positioned and what for?
●Activity - group work - from the supplement material for teachers (power point). Students compare 02 airport diagrams and spot the differences between them. They write down their answers.
Why working in groups?
- it maximizes students participation
- students are more likely to help each other
- dominant students can only dominate a few students at a time
- everyone can be involved at their own level
- it promotes collaboration / keeps everybody more engaged
- students learn how to compromise/they negotiate meaning/they take more risks; more advanced students can also learn while explaining to a less able student/ they can provide good models of language performance in speaking;
- the teacher can also mediate and help weaker students
Why writing?
By spoken to written, or written to spoken use of the language, they will be practicing various language skills and it would be an opportunity for the students to refine and transmit the language they have learned so far.
Optional :
●Sts do the activity in the book (pages 02 and 03) or it can be assigned as homework.
●Language outcome
- Another airport diagram is shown in the Power Point(from the task 2.10 in the book)
-Students get together in pairs
-Students receive role cards and role play
HAND OUT - Role Cards
Runway 6/24 is shorter than runway 09/27.
Vrg 123 is approaching to land on rnw 24. The pilot detects a flap failure. They don’t extend. A is the pilot / B is the ATC. Prepare a dialog and include in it the comparative form of “long”.
Taxiway Charlie doesn’t support airplanes whose wing span width is 18 meters . You are Gulfstream xxx . You leave hangar 10 to take off from rnw 09 , and the ATC clears you to proceed via Alpha, then Charlie and Bravo. A is a pilot and B is the ATC. Use the comparative form of adjective “wide”
STUDENT A : You are the pilot of a xxx. You are taxiing to rwn 09 via Delta.
STUDENT B : You are the ATC. There are men working on Delta but it is not completely obstructed. You have to inform this to the pilot and advise him to reduce his speed. (use the adjective “slow” )
You are the pilot of GOl 221. While taxiing you notice that your engine is making a funny noise. You request atc to perform a check on the main runway but permission is denied because this is not allowed at the place. Request instructions to perform your check in the right spot.
ATC wind equipment is not working. You are ready to take off from rnw 27. ATC informs you about the malfunction and asks you if you are able to take off. Prepare a possible dialog between the pilot and the ATC (use the the word “windsock”)
You are Cessna 123. AtC clears you to take off behind an A 380. Complain and tell ATC why you are requesting to take off before the A380. Here you can not use the word “ jet blast”.
NOTE :
If while monitoring the groups I realize that the students are having difficulty in using the grammar/ vocabulary correctly, I assign extra vocabulary or grammar work such as :
a. Combine information from a dictionary definition or my own knowledge
1. It is the place where airplanes perform engine checks …………………..
2.It is the place where helicopters land ………………………………………
Or
b. Meaning in context – fill each gap with an appropriate word
Once an aircraft crosses the boundary between a non-movement area such as the (1) __________or ( 2) _____________ and a movement area such as a (3) ____________, the pilot must be able to confidently and correctly follow Air Traffic Control (ATC) instructions in the same manner as when airborne. It is not easy to identify runways and (4) _______________ from the ground. Pilots need to be especially vigilant of signs and surface (5) ____________ to avoid accidentally crossing or entering an (6) ____________________runway, something which has contributed to many serious aviation accidents in the past.
Other ideas to work with the same diagram
After the students have completed the task of listening to the recording and drawing a line where the pilot is supposed to taxi, I can set up some OTHER scenarios in order to better explore this activity and create different opportunities for the target language outcome:
I ask for 2 volunteers to be the pilot and ATC. They have to make the red airplane take off from runway 27. For example, taxiway MIKE is the one that crosses runway 13.
Red airplane : ________________ (This is Cessna 123, ready to take off.)
Ground : __________________________ (Turn right and join taxiway Mike), hold short on runway 13.)
Red airplane :____________________( holding short on runway 13)
You can also practice the functions of confirming, requesting, clarifying , reporting , with some other situations:
And if the controller says: Cessna 123, turn right and join taxiway mike to runway 27?
Or
You landed on rnw 09 and vacated at the end of rnw 27. You are not familiar with this airport. Ground control contacts you:
Ground : Xxxx, turn left taxi to the ramp.
Continue this dialog.
You : _____________________ ( Negative. I am not familiar with this airport. Request progressive taxi)
Ground: _____________________________ (turn right on Mike taxiway, until the yellow hangar, then turn right until you reach Lima.)
To make the interactions of these groups contain some unknown elements so that they are not just rehearsed role plays I suggest this activity :
Using the same diagram of the previous activity:
Student A receives a slip of paper with has information that is different from student’s B.
STUDENT A: You are the pilot of a Cessna xxx. You are parked on the unpaved area. You intend to take off on rwn 27 via the taxiway Charlie.
STUDENT B: You are the ATC. There is oil spilled on taxiway Charlie. You have to give them instructions to proceed via another taxiway.
Or
Reporting position
You are the green plane, you are taxiing from the ramp to holding point of rnw 09. Student b is the ATC. The visibility is low and atc needs to know your positions while you are taxiing. You have to keep on informing where you are and what you are doing. Use the verbs: passing, entering,moving,leaving, holding,turning.
WORKSHOP ACTIVITY
I will hand out lessons/activities that I believe require a substantial knowledge of aviation terminology as well as operational procedures to be carried out by the teacher . I will ask you to get together and prepare a lesson plan for this activity. (PAG 116 /117 CLEARED FOR TAKE OFF BOOK 1 / PAGE 5 BOOK 2 ) If among the participants there are SMEs , I can separate them from the ESP teachers to compare, afterwards, how the lessons were planned.)
This is the key to this section. In English there are words and even grammar forms that are associated with certain aviation maneuvers (US = maneuvers). Not being skilled in understanding and producing these words will severely restrict the ability of the students to handle flight training conducted in English. So is the primary aim to prepare students to handle flight training by inducing them to acquire and practice the necessary language skills in context.
