ICAO Aviation English Language Test Endorsement Service

1. ICAO Aviation English Language Test Endorsement Service Nicole Barrette-Sabourin Training Officer, Aviation Safety Training Section ANB, ICAO ICAEA Conference Brasilia, 12 – 13 November 2012

2. Outline • Purpose: • Review ICAO’s test endorsement process • Topics: • ICAO roles and responsibilities • ICAO Standards • ICAO Language Provisions • The purpose of test endorsement • Ongoing activities and lessons learned • Next steps

3. About ICAO • Created in December 1944 (Chicago Convention) • Specialized agency of the UN System • Membership: 191 Contracting States • Objectives: • Promote cooperation • Agree on principles and arrangements to develop international civil aviation in a safe and orderly manner. • Essential in the Air Navigation field

4. ICAO Structure

5. ICAO – Insider View • Assembly • Contracting States meet every three years • Defines policy through Assembly Resolutions • Adopts the budget and elects the Council • Adopts amendments to the Convention which have then to be ratified by States • Council • 36 members • Permanent and resident • Adopts Standards and Recommended Practices

6. ICAO – Insider View • Air Navigation Commission • 19 Commissioners • Commissioner act in their personal capacity • Oversee the technical work of the Organization • Duties are defined by Article 57 of the Convention • Outputs • Standards and Recommended Practices in 19 Annexes and 4 PANS documents • Coordination of international air navigation activities (regional planning) • Implementation (technical cooperation, continuous monitoring approach)

7. ICAO – Insider View • ICAO Secretariat • Headed by a Secretary General (Mr. Raymond Benjamin) elected for three years by the Council • Headquarters in Montreal: 500 staff, 80 in the Air Navigation Bureau • 7 Regional Offices (Paris, Dakar, Nairobi, Lima, Bangkok, Cairo, Mexico)

8. Development of ICAO Standards • Article 37 of the Convention: • Each Contracting State undertakes to collaborate in securing the highest practicable degree of uniformity in regulations, standards, procedures and organization in relation to aircraft, personnel, airways and auxiliary services in all matters in which such uniformity will facilitate and improve air navigation.”

9. Development of ICAO Standards • Applicability of ICAO Standards • International Aviation only • Standards must be complied with or a notification of differences must be made • Implications of the notion of sovereignty • Enforcement of ICAO Standards • System is based on mutual trust between States • ICAO Safety Oversight Audit Programme

10. The Safety Case for LPRs

11. Air-Ground Communications • Has been a concern for decades • Action up to the 90s • Standardized Phraseologies • Hope of development of a radiotelephony speech based on a simplified English • Realization that it was not sufficient • Development of new Standards • Clarify the use of the English Language • Strengthen the use of standards phraseologies • Establish language proficiency requirements

12. PRICE SG • Proficiency Requirements in Common English (PRICE) Study Group • Experts from Argentina, Canada, China, France, Russia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, EUROCONTROL, IATA, IFATCA, IFALPA and ICAO. • Mandated to • Review all aspects of air-ground and ground-ground voice communication • Develop requirements concerning English language testing • Develop language proficiency requirements

13. ICAO Language Provisions • Annex 10 – Volume II • Para 5.1.1.1- ICAO phraseology shall be used in all situations for which it has been specified. Only when standardized phraseology cannot serve an intended transmission, plain language shall be used. • Para 5.2.1.2.1: The air-ground radiotelephony communications shall be conducted in the language normally used by the station on the ground or in the English language. • Para 5.2.1.2.2 The English language shall be available, on request from any aircraft station, at all stations on the ground serving designated airports and routes used by international air services.

14. Annex 1 Pilots and Controllers • shall demonstrate the ability to speak and understand the language used for radiotelephony communications (Standard 1.2.9.1) • the “speak and understand” ability shall be demonstrated to level 4 of the ICAO rating scale (Standard 1.2.9.4 and Appendix) • recurrent testing will be required for those below level 6 (recommendation: every 3 years for level 4 and every 6 years for level 5) • Note that: • Language proficiency requirements applies to pilots who are engaged in international flights and ATCO/ASO providing services to international flights • Pilots shall demonstrate proficiency in at least one of the language(s) offered in the airspace that is used • ATCO/ASO shall demonstrate proficiency for each of the language(s) offered in the airspace in which they are providing service

15. Other Aspects • The Rating Scale and Holistic Descriptors are contained in the Appendix and the Attachment to Annex 1 • Consequences of non-compliance with the language proficiency Standards • For pilots • For Air Traffic Controllers and aeronautical Station Operators • Guidance on the implementation of the Standards has been published in the Manual on the Implementation of ICAO Language Proficiency Requirements (Doc 9835)

16. Why ICAO established AELTE • Aviation language testing industry is unregulated • Scarcity of dependable language testing expertise an important obstacle to the implementation of the language provisions. • ICAO considered as the only organization with moral authority to implement this service

17. Important to Note • The ultimate responsibility of implementation of LPRs and testing remains with the CAAs • TSPs who participate in the AELTE do so on a voluntary basis • Service is provided on a cost-recovery basis • Criteria used for evaluation are directly linked to Document 9835

18. Endorsement: TSP Perspective • Five main steps to complete the endorsement process • Steps are documented on a dedicated website, structured to guide users through the process

19. Current Status • 25 accounts requested and created • Test evaluation results:

20. Test Evaluation Results • Main reasons not to endorse tests: • Poor / incomplete test documentation • Lack of evidence: not supporting claims made about a test with evidence (facts, figures, reports, analyses, procedures, etc.) • Tests that don’t reflect ICAO Doc 9835 and the ICAO LPR • Excellent cooperation from TSP conditionally / fully endorsed – improvements already made based on suggestions received

21. In progress • Transitioning the ICAO-ALETE website to a more complete / permanent home • More tools for TSP to directly manage their accounts • More detail in the process to better guide users • Better information (news and improvements) • Continually improving the process: gathering and applying lessons learned Test endorsement is a multi-faceted process requiring substantial practical experience to fully develop. Cooperation remains the essential ingredient to achieve its full potential.

22. Upcoming Event • Language Proficiency Requirements Technical Seminar • 25 to 27 March 2013 • ICAO Headquarters, Montreal • http://www.icao.int/LPR13 • ICAO State Letter AN 12/44.7-12/60 of 19 October • Objective: • Continue to foster implementation of LPRs • Gather data to assist in report to the Assembly in 2013 • Provide information on web-based tools

23. Thank you! Obrigada! Questions?