Advancement in Pedagogical Foundations: Developing Language Proficiency for Student Success

Interruptions in flight training and a corresponding increase in costs appear to be prevalent among universities with aviation training programs. Students in these programs have to manage both demanding academics and flight training. Additionally, international students, for whom English is not their primary language, have the added disadvantage of learning complex aviation concepts in English. In order to maximize retention in collegiate flight programs, an experimental aviation English course has been designed to helpfrontload aviation vocabulary and take a proactive approach to teaching language skills that are essential in flight training. This as a case study model includes the learning goals and objectives for this course. The primary intent is to developan appliedknowledge of international radiotelephony alphabet and numerals, basic flight fundamentals and maneuvers, airport operations, national airspace operations, and emergency proceduresas a means to developing English language proficiency. Students will know how to comprehend basic air traffic controller (ATC)-pilot transmissions, basic runway navigational directions given by ATC, and communicate effectively with clear, understandable speech, and at an appropriate tempo. Other important goals and objectivesfor this course include students understanding the role of ATC and the importance of clear communication by conducting an interview and providing a written summary of the interview. Furthermore, students will learn the value in safety by recognizing situational awareness through the means of analyzing both fatal and non-fatal incidents, why these incidents occurred and how they could have been avoided