WORKSHOP LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY REQUIREMENTS IMPLEMENTATION March 2010 Rome - Italy REGULATORY ISSUES ON TESTING Eleonora Italia Enac Personnel Licensing Director

1.2.9 LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY Refers to pilots and flight navigators, ATCOs and aeronautical station operators “Shall demonstrate the ability to speak and understand the language used for radiotelephony communications” TO THE LEVEL SPECIFIED IN THE LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY REQUIREMENTS IN: ICAO ANNEX 1 - ICAO ANNEX 1 APPENDIX 1 - ICAO doc ICAO Circular 318-AN/180

To meet the language proficiency requirements contained in section an applicant shall demonstrate compliance with the holistic descriptors at section 2 and the ICAO Operational level of the ICAO rating scale As a whole, the scale serves as benchmarks for training and testing, and in assisting candidates to attain the ICAO operational level ICAO ANNEX 1 APPENDIX 1 in a manner acceptable to the licensing authority

ACCEPTABLE TO THE AUTHORITY WHICH ARE THE KEY CONCEPTS TO FOCUS ON FOR CONSIDERING THE DEMONSTRATION OF PROFICIENCY THE STATE AVIATION AUTHORITIES MAINTAIN OVERSIGHT RESPONSIBILITIES ACCEPTABLE ?

To fulfil ICAO provisions requiring that pilots and controllers demonstrate language proficiency sufficient for SAFE and EFFICIENT radiotelephony communications To provide BENCHMARKS by which the EFFECTIVENESS of language training and learning may be evaluated LANGUAGE TESTING IN AVIATION HAS HIGH STAKES BECAUSE CAREERS AND SAFETY ARE AT STAKE Proficiency test ⇒ evaluate OVERALL ability against a set of criteria AVIATION LANGUAGE TESTING DOC CHAPTER 6 PURPOSES OF TESTING : TESTS PURPOSE:

1. Provides RELIABLE and VALID results 2. Are VALID – RELIABLE – EFFECTIVE – APPROPRIATE- PRACTICABLE VALID: indicates the degree to which a test measures what is supposed to measure RELIABLE: refers to the stability of the test, in terms of standard of evaluation and rating PRACTICABLE: signifies the balance between resources required and resources available AVIATION LANGUAGE TESTING

influence of testing on teaching and learning POSITIVE WASHBACK ⇒ the test encourages learners and trainers to focus on PROFICIENT-BUILDING LANGUAGE learning activities, to improve proficiency level, and NOT to focus on the easier way to get a higher score TEST WASHBACK ICAO CIRCULAR 318-AN/180 HIGH QUALITY TESTING WILL ENCOURAGE HIGH QUALITY TRAINING !!!

⇒ A TESTING SERVICE THAT CAN CONTINUALLY PROVIDE NEW TEST ITEMS ⇒ THAT CAN TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION DIFFERENT SCENARIOUS (AB INITIO PILOS AND ATCOs, PPL, PROFESSIONAL PILOTS AND ATCOs, HELICOPTER PILOTS, AEROPLANE PILOTS) AND ⇒ A LARGE NUMBER OF RATERS AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES IS REQUIRED (6.6.1) ⇒ A TESTING SERVICE THAT CAN CONTINUALLY ASSURE SECURITY AND QUALITY CONTROL TESTING SERVICES RATHER THAN “A TEST” ARE REQUIRED

TEST PREPARED WITH THE INPUT OF PROFESSIONAL TEST DEVELOPERS WRITING TEST SPECIFICATIONS DECIDING TEST METHOD AND CONTENT DEVELOPING TEST ITEMS TRIALLING TEST ITEMS ANALYSING THE RESULTS REVISING TEST ITEMS RE-TRIALLING THE TEST AND TEST ITEMS VALIDATING THE TEST ESTABLISHING A RATING PROCEDURE ESTABLISHING A RATER TRAINING PROCESS AND A QUALITY CONTROL PROCESS ESTABLISHING RECORD KEEPING ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS BEST PRACTICE FOR LANGUAGE TESTING IN AVIATION (6.5.4)

RATERS AT LEAST TWO - TRAINED, QUALIFIED, EXPERIENCED - ABLE TO IDENTIFY DEFICIENCIES IN PERFORMANCE -ABLE TO GUIDE CANDIDATES TOWARDS LANGUAGE LEARNING ACTIVITIES - INSPIRE TRUST AND GAIN THE CONFIDENCE OF BOTH THE COMMUNITY AND CANDIDATES -AGREE UPON STANDARDIZED PROCEDURES -COMMIT THE BEST PRACTICE (CODE OF ETHICS) ↓ THEN, THE RATING SCALE IS USED TO MAKE INFORMED JUDGEMENTS ABOUT CANDIDATES BEST PRACTICE FOR LANGUAGE TESTING IN AVIATION

STANDARDIZED AND TRAINED RATERS Initial and recurrent training documented – rater training records maintained – audit conducted and documented periodically CAN ONLY GUARANTEE THE VALIDITY AND THE RELIABILITY OF THE TEST

DIRECT Candidate interacts with a tester directly or with other candidates while being observed by a tester. Requires more time and human resources Benefits: more natural, communicative because of the interaction there is an infinite supply of tests prompts SEMI-DIRECT Speech samples are elicited based on pre-recorded prompts Inflexibility Benefits: test takers receive the same prompts less time (more candidates tested at the same time) Appropriate strategy: incorporate both direct and semi direct methods in a single testing system PROFICIENCY TESTS

HOWEVER AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDING OF THE TEST PERFORMANCE IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED FOR VERIFICATION AND RECORD-KEEPING PURPOSES IT ALSO HELPS IN APPEALS PROCEDURES, WHICH HAVE TO BE ESTABLISHED

TEST ADMINISTRATION CIRCULAR 318-AN/180 TO PUBLISH A COMPLETE SAMPLE OF THE TEST DOCUMENTED TEST RATING PROCESS AVAILABLE DOCUMENTED INSTRUCTIONS TO TEST TAKERS, TEST ADMINISTRATION TEAMS, TEST RATERS AVAILABLE TEST ADMINISTRATION POLICIES AND PROCEDURE AVAILABLE DOCUMENTED APPEALS PROCEDURE ESTABLISHED

TEST SECURITY ENFORCE SECURITY MEASURES TO ENSURE THE INTEGRITY OF THE TESTING PROCESS TEST MATERIAL HELD IN CONFIDENCE AND WELL STORED, NOT PUBLISHED OR PROVIDED TO TEST TAKERS BEFORE THE TEST

RECORD-KEEPING AUDIO AND/OR VIDEO RECORDING EVALUATION SHEETS AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION SCORE-REPORTING PROCESS

HOW ENAC ENFORCED LPR KEY CONCEPTS AND REQUIREMENTS ONE TEST FOR PILOTS AND ONE TEST FOR ATCOs standardisation and uniformity of evaluation need BOTH DIRECT AND SEMI-DIRECT METHODS IN THE TEST EXAMINERS AND TEST ADMINISTRATORS APPLY TO ENAC EXAMINERS CERTIFIED AFTER SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETING 20 HOURS ON SELF STUDYING, OVERSIGHT BY DISTANCE AND TWO DAYS OF STANDARDISATION AND CERTIFICATION SESSION HELD BY THE TEST DEVELOPER AND ENAC ⇒ 46 ACTIVE EXAMINERS TEST ADMINISTRATORS BRIEFED AND TRAINED ON TEST ADMINISTRATION, SECURITY PROCEDURES AND RECORD-KEEPING TEST CENTRES REQUIREMENTS EVALUATED BY ENAC, CERTIFIED BY THE TEST DEVELOPER ⇒ 39 TEST CENTRES CERTIFIED THE LIST OF THE TEST CENTRES PUBLISHED ON ENAC WEB SITE HOW ENAC ENFORCED LPR KEY CONCEPTS AND REQUIREMENTS

TEST CENTRES AUDITED BY ENAC TWO RATERS RESULTS CONFIRMED AFTER THE SECOND RATE TEST RESULT ENDORSED BY ENAC ON THE PILOT’S LICENCE: “language proficiency : ENGLISH Level ….. EXP. …… date of the test + 3 years (Lv. 4) date of the test + 6 years (Lv. 5) ITALIAN Level 6 DATA BASE WITH TEST RESULTS AVAILABLE TO ALL ENAC AIRPORT OFFICERS IN CASE OF DEMONSTRATION OF PROFICIENCY BELOW LEVEL 4: “restricted to VFR domestic activity, other than public transportation”

Any questions?