I'm pleased to announce that Flight Safety Foundation has just published my article about the communication problems from native speakers. Read more here: https://flightsafety.org/asw-article/communication...

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It is very disheartening to see the aviation industry littered with language schools capitalising on commercial opportunities and boasting about the fact that they are, or have access to, native English-speaking teachers. It is so frustrating to see how so many people miss the point. In...

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In an international communication setting, and when I say international, I'm referring to English being used a medium of communication where at least one participant is not a native English speaker₁, there is a chance that the participants will have to accommodate to each...

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It can sometimes be difficult to find authentic role playing activities for students, especially in aviation.

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ICAO recommend that a level 6 is given lifetime validity. There are a number of problems with this.

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At the moment, ICAO does not mandate that native English speakers be tested for language proficiency as they are 'probable expert speakers'. However, this is problematic for a number of reasons; firstly, what 'is' a native speaker? How do you define it? I can say that scholars are unable to...

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With the introduction of the ICAO language proficiency requirements, it seems that the onus for safeguarding successful communication seems to be on the non-native speaker. In many cases, they are tested and taught how to approximate to inner-circle native speaker norms. This is particularly...

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