The vocabulary of aviation radiotelephony communication in simulator emergencies and the contradictions in air traffic controller beliefs about language use

<p>This thesis encompasses a mixed methods enquiry into the language used in air traffic control in simulated emergency situations in the United Arab Emirates. The workplaces studied employ pilots and controllers from a diverse range of language backgrounds. This research sets out to answer three questions: 1. What is the technical vocabulary of aviation radiotelephony in emergency training in the simulator? 2. To what extent is technical vocabulary used in radiotelephony in emergency training in the simulator? 3. What factors influence the use of technical vocabulary in speaking? The first part of the study investigates the nature of technical language in aviation radiotelephony. Two spoken corpora were created from recordings of three air traffic controllers from two different workplaces (Ghaf and Sandy aerodromes), undergoing emergency simulator training. Mandated standard phraseology formed a written corpus. Standard phraseology is an international language defined by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and adopted by governments for use in radiotelephony communication. Quantitative analysis showed that the technical vocabulary in aviation radiotelephony consists of proper nouns, numbers, aviation alphabet, acronyms, technical word types and multiword units. The technical word types included purely technical words e.g. taxiway and cryptotechnical vocabulary (high, medium and low frequency words with a technical meaning (Fraser, 2009)) e.g. approach. Multiword units included ICAO standard phraseology e.g. hold short or subsidiary and local phraseology in the spoken corpora e.g. Do you have any question (subsidiary) and engine start approved (local). The second part of the study examines sources of difference in language use by controllers. Technical vocabulary coverage differed between the spoken corpora at 70.52% for Ghaf Aerodrome and 51.61% for Sandy Aerodrome. Two explanations for this were: differences in the purpose of emergency training in each aerodrome; and differences in linguistic style by the Sandy controller which was established through keyword analysis. Interviews with nine controllers established further factors which are likely to affect the use of technical vocabulary in radiotelephony communication including: communication styles of native English speakers (NES) and non-native English speakers (NNES). Further examination of interview data also revealed contradictory beliefs underlying language use by controllers. Their beliefs diverge around the role of standard phraseology, its use (or not) in emergencies and the value of language training for emergencies. This divergence reflects the contradictions in definitions of standard phraseology and plain language in the literature. Differences in language use can lead to frequent miscommunication and the need for clarification of meaning in these UAE workplaces. The present study makes two contributions to the significant body of research on aviation radiotelephony. The first is an Aviation Radiotelephony Word and Number List. It is used to clarify the role of technical vocabulary and plain language in radiotelephony and to show how the technical vocabulary coverage of radiotelephony communication, in an extract from the simulator emergency training and another extract from an ICAO document, is high compared to other professions. Second, a Model of Controller Beliefs and Outcomes is presented and suggests a way to interpret divergent language outcomes in radiotelephony. The model summarises two contradictory sets of controller beliefs about standard phraseology, language in emergencies, and training. Further, the language and training outcomes reflect those beliefs. The investigation concludes with implications for training and testing in aviation for ab initio and experienced controllers. The corpora, word and number list and model all provide useful tools for the training and testing needs in these UAE workplaces. The chapter concludes with limitations of the study and future research directions.</p>

The vocabulary of aviation radiotelephony communication in simulator emergencies and the contradictions in air traffic controller beliefs about language use

<p>This thesis encompasses a mixed methods enquiry into the language used in air traffic control in simulated emergency situations in the United Arab Emirates. The workplaces studied employ pilots and controllers from a diverse range of language backgrounds. This research sets out to answer three questions: 1. What is the technical vocabulary of aviation radiotelephony in emergency training in the simulator? 2. To what extent is technical vocabulary used in radiotelephony in emergency training in the simulator? 3. What factors influence the use of technical vocabulary in speaking? The first part of the study investigates the nature of technical language in aviation radiotelephony. Two spoken corpora were created from recordings of three air traffic controllers from two different workplaces (Ghaf and Sandy aerodromes), undergoing emergency simulator training. Mandated standard phraseology formed a written corpus. Standard phraseology is an international language defined by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and adopted by governments for use in radiotelephony communication. Quantitative analysis showed that the technical vocabulary in aviation radiotelephony consists of proper nouns, numbers, aviation alphabet, acronyms, technical word types and multiword units. The technical word types included purely technical words e.g. taxiway and cryptotechnical vocabulary (high, medium and low frequency words with a technical meaning (Fraser, 2009)) e.g. approach. Multiword units included ICAO standard phraseology e.g. hold short or subsidiary and local phraseology in the spoken corpora e.g. Do you have any question (subsidiary) and engine start approved (local). The second part of the study examines sources of difference in language use by controllers. Technical vocabulary coverage differed between the spoken corpora at 70.52% for Ghaf Aerodrome and 51.61% for Sandy Aerodrome. Two explanations for this were: differences in the purpose of emergency training in each aerodrome; and differences in linguistic style by the Sandy controller which was established through keyword analysis. Interviews with nine controllers established further factors which are likely to affect the use of technical vocabulary in radiotelephony communication including: communication styles of native English speakers (NES) and non-native English speakers (NNES). Further examination of interview data also revealed contradictory beliefs underlying language use by controllers. Their beliefs diverge around the role of standard phraseology, its use (or not) in emergencies and the value of language training for emergencies. This divergence reflects the contradictions in definitions of standard phraseology and plain language in the literature. Differences in language use can lead to frequent miscommunication and the need for clarification of meaning in these UAE workplaces. The present study makes two contributions to the significant body of research on aviation radiotelephony. The first is an Aviation Radiotelephony Word and Number List. It is used to clarify the role of technical vocabulary and plain language in radiotelephony and to show how the technical vocabulary coverage of radiotelephony communication, in an extract from the simulator emergency training and another extract from an ICAO document, is high compared to other professions. Second, a Model of Controller Beliefs and Outcomes is presented and suggests a way to interpret divergent language outcomes in radiotelephony. The model summarises two contradictory sets of controller beliefs about standard phraseology, language in emergencies, and training. Further, the language and training outcomes reflect those beliefs. The investigation concludes with implications for training and testing in aviation for ab initio and experienced controllers. The corpora, word and number list and model all provide useful tools for the training and testing needs in these UAE workplaces. The chapter concludes with limitations of the study and future research directions.</p>

A Corpus-Based Investigation of Idiomatic Multiword Units

<p>Idioms - a type of multiword unit (MWU) - are defined as being non-compositional and in general cannot be understood by adding together the meanings of the individual words that comprise the MWU. Because of this, they present a particular challenge to students who speak English as a second- or foreign-language (ESL/EFL). As a teacher of second-language (L2) learners, it is just that challenge which has motivated this study. Specifically, there were two main aims of the thesis. In order to know how to teach idioms to ESL/EFL learners, we - as language teachers - need to know how to define and explain them. Therefore, the first aim of the study was to either find an English (L1) definition of an idiom which could clearly distinguish one type from another, and an idiom from a non-idiom, or to develop a new definition. Having not found such a definition, a new definition was put forward, dividing MWUs presently known as idioms into three new groups - core idioms, figuratives, and ONCEs (one noncompositional element). The L1 perspective was adopted for the definition as an L2 perspective would involve considerably more variables. The second aim was to develop a comprehensive list of one of the three new groups - core idioms - and then try to establish frequency, using a corpus search. A number of steps were taken to compile this list, involving an examination of several sources of written and spoken English. The result was that when the criteria established to define a core idiom - being both non-compositional and non-figurative - were strictly applied to the large collection of MWUs presently known as 'idioms', the figure was reduced to only 104 MWUs deemed to be either core idioms or 'borderline figuratives' and 'borderline ONCEs'. Next the British National Corpus (BNC), a corpus of 100 million words, was searched for occurrences of these 104 core idioms and borderlines to establish their frequency. The result of the corpus search showed that none of the core idioms occurs frequently enough to get into the most frequent 5,000 words of English. However, as the motivation to do the study was the desire to find a better way to teach idiomatic MWUs, a brief discussion followed with suggestions for the teaching and learning of these idiomatic MWUs. Finally, some methodological implications and suggestions for future research were put forward, looking at further research which would advance the field of second-language acquisition (SLA) related to the learning of idiomatic MWUs.</p>

A Corpus-Based Investigation of Idiomatic Multiword Units

<p>Idioms - a type of multiword unit (MWU) - are defined as being non-compositional and in general cannot be understood by adding together the meanings of the individual words that comprise the MWU. Because of this, they present a particular challenge to students who speak English as a second- or foreign-language (ESL/EFL). As a teacher of second-language (L2) learners, it is just that challenge which has motivated this study. Specifically, there were two main aims of the thesis. In order to know how to teach idioms to ESL/EFL learners, we - as language teachers - need to know how to define and explain them. Therefore, the first aim of the study was to either find an English (L1) definition of an idiom which could clearly distinguish one type from another, and an idiom from a non-idiom, or to develop a new definition. Having not found such a definition, a new definition was put forward, dividing MWUs presently known as idioms into three new groups - core idioms, figuratives, and ONCEs (one noncompositional element). The L1 perspective was adopted for the definition as an L2 perspective would involve considerably more variables. The second aim was to develop a comprehensive list of one of the three new groups - core idioms - and then try to establish frequency, using a corpus search. A number of steps were taken to compile this list, involving an examination of several sources of written and spoken English. The result was that when the criteria established to define a core idiom - being both non-compositional and non-figurative - were strictly applied to the large collection of MWUs presently known as 'idioms', the figure was reduced to only 104 MWUs deemed to be either core idioms or 'borderline figuratives' and 'borderline ONCEs'. Next the British National Corpus (BNC), a corpus of 100 million words, was searched for occurrences of these 104 core idioms and borderlines to establish their frequency. The result of the corpus search showed that none of the core idioms occurs frequently enough to get into the most frequent 5,000 words of English. However, as the motivation to do the study was the desire to find a better way to teach idiomatic MWUs, a brief discussion followed with suggestions for the teaching and learning of these idiomatic MWUs. Finally, some methodological implications and suggestions for future research were put forward, looking at further research which would advance the field of second-language acquisition (SLA) related to the learning of idiomatic MWUs.</p>

Promoting L2 acquisition of multiword units through textually enhanced audiovisual input: An eye-tracking study

This study examines the effect of textual enhancement on learners’ attention to and learning of multiword units from captioned audiovisual input. We adopted a within-participants design in which 28 learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) watched a captioned video containing enhanced (underlined) and unenhanced multiword units. Using eye-tracking, we measured learners’ online processing of the multiword units as they appeared in the captions. Form recall pre- and posttests measured learners’ acquisition of the target items. The results of mixed effects models indicate that enhanced items received greater visual attention, with longer reading times, less single word skipping and more rereading. Further, a positive relationship was found between amount of visual attention and learning odds: items fixated longer, particularly during the first pass, were more likely to be recalled in an immediate posttest. Our findings provide empirical support for the positive effect of visual attention on form recall of multiword units encountered in captioned television. The results also suggest that item difficulty and amount of attention were more important than textual enhancement in predicting learning gains.

Perspectives on the L2 Phrasicon

This is the first book to investigate the field of phraseology from a learner corpus perspective. It includes cutting-edge studies which analyse a wide range of multiword units and extensive learner corpus data to provide the reader with a comprehensive theoretical, methodological and applied perspective onto L2 use in a wide range of situations.

The Starting Big approach to language learning

The study of language acquisition has a long and contentious history: researchers disagree on what drives this process, the relevant data, and the interesting questions. Here, I outline the Starting Big approach to language learning, which emphasizes the role of multiword units in language, and of coarse-to-fine processes in learning. I outline core predictions and supporting evidence. In short, the approach argues that multiword units are integral building blocks in language; that such units can facilitate mastery of semantically opaque relations between words; and that adults rely on them less than children, which can explain (some of) their difficulty in learning a second language. The Starting Big approach is a theory of how children learn language, how language is represented, and how to explain differences between first and second language learning. I discuss the learning and processing models at the heart of the approach and their cross-linguistic implications.