Analysis of Technical English Phraseology

and Common Core Language Use in Aviation

A. Introduction

Communication problems are considered to have become a factor that often causes a
number of critical incidents and accidents in flight (Breul, 2013). Kraśnicka (2016) also
revealed that this series of fatal air accidents was identified as the result of the lack or low of
proficiency in English. This prompted the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
to establish a number of decisions relating to improving English language proficiency for
pilots and air traffic controllers involved in international aviation operations (Kraśnicka,
2016). These communication problems include communication between the crew members in
the cockpit and communication between the pilot and air traffic controllers. Among the
various languages used as the language of communication in aviation, English has the most
dominant important role. Most airlines have established English as the official language. In
flight, English is the language most often used as the lingua franca among members of the
international cockpit crew. The function of English in this flight is as a standard verbal
communication medium between pilots and air traffic controllers, both in English-speaking
countries and in non-English-speaking countries that have international airports (Breul,
2013).

Air-ground communication between pilots and air traffic controllers uses a special
language or operation known as phraseology. This phraseology is created and is continuously
updated by ICAO which covers the most common and commonly encountered situations in
air navigation with the aim of optimizing and ensuring the safety in flights conducted via
radiotelephones. The use of this phraseology will be able to provide clarity in the use of
language, as well as language that is concise, and unambiguous in communicating routine
messages. Phraseology and messages containing phraseology are based on simplified but
strict syntactic, lexical, semantic and phonetic rules (Lopez et al., 2013). Phraseology refers
to standard words and phrases that are defined based on approval for use in radiotelephonic
communications. Phraseology is a form of language for specific purposes (LSP), where the
language used is limited and predictable within a limited range of communicative events.
Even though there are different phraseologies from different aviation institutions, ICAO still
emphasizes the importance of using ICAO standard phraseology, because using a different
phraseology will actually result in communication errors that will lead to misunderstanding
and hinder optimal communication, this has the potential to threaten safety in flight (Kim &
Elder, 2009).

According to ICAO, the purpose of phraseology is to be able to communicate using

clear, concise and unambiguous language, and to communicate messages that are routine in
nature. According to Cowie (in Batubara, 2017) in linguistics, phraseology is the study of sets
of expressions, such as idioms, phrasal verbs, and other types of multi-word lexical units
(phrases), where the component parts of the expression have a more specific meaning or vice
versa. It cannot be predicted from the number of meanings of an expression if used
independently. Phraseology is a branch of linguistics which refers to the language used by the
air traffic controller in communication carried out with pilots as a form of function to convey
meaning by using language. Phraseology is used as a means of communication between the
air traffic controller and the pilot. The type of communication that is carried out using this
phraseology is different from ordinary conversations which are carried out in everyday life.
In phraseology, there are expressions or phrases that contain certain meanings and have been
standardized so that the air traffic controller and pilot must have their own understanding in
communicating (Batubara, 2017). The phraseology standard has been set in ICAO, where the
phraseology standard in ICAO can be a common core language in aviation. Where the
common core of this standard is the knowledge and skills in English required in carrying out
the profession as an air traffic controller and pilot after flying school (Santos, Darling-
Hammond, & Cheuk, 2012).

Based on this background, researcher is interested in the phraseology language used

by air traffic controllers and pilots in flight activities. This study aims to determine the extent
to which some of the use of English phraseology by air traffic controllers and pilots in real
air-ground communications by comparing it with the standard phraseology as a common core
language stipulated in ICAO. Thus, the focus of this research is to introduce the language of
phraseology used in radiotelephony. Then presents the corpus data under study, the first
corpus is ICAO standard phraseology and the second corpus is a transcription of real air-
ground communications from one of Indonesia’s international airports. Then do a comparison
between the two data.
B. Research Methodology

The research will be conducted using a qualitative descriptive method. The data
source comes from ICAO standard phraseology and real air-ground communication
recordings from one of Indonesia’s international airports. Data collection techniques using
descriptive techniques. The descriptive technique used in this research is documentation
through document analysis. In implementing the documentation method, researchers
investigate written objects such as books, magazines, documents, regulations, reports, diaries
and so on. Through the documentation method, researchers extracted data in the form of
documents related to standard phraseology learning regulated by ICAO and carried out
transcription of communication recordings. Analysis of this document includes studying
citations, citations or entire sections of organizational, clinical or program notes; memoranda
and correspondence; publications and official reports; and open written responses to
questionnaires and surveys (Patton, 2005). The data used in this research are ICAO standard
phraseology and transcription of real air-ground communication recording from one of
Indonesia’s international airports.

In analyzing the data, the interactive model of Miles and Huberman was used.
According to Miles and Huberman (in Batubara, 2017), data analysis includes three steps,
namely data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions.

1) Data reduction
Data reduction defined as the selection process, focuses on the simplification and
transformation of crude data that arise from written records in the field. Reduction is
carried out since data collection begins by making a summary, coding, etc. with the
intention of setting aside irrelevant data or information. This data reduction is done by
transcription of the communication recording between the air traffic controller and the
pilot, and introducing the phraseology language used in radiotelephony.
2) Presentation of data
Data presentation is the description of a set of structured information that provides the
possibility of drawing conclusions and taking action. The presentation of qualitative
data is presented in the form of narrative text. The presentation can also be in the form
of matrices, diagrams, tables and charts. In this stage the research presents the corpus
data under study, the first corpus is ICAO standard phraseology and the second corpus
 is a transcription of real air-ground communications from one of Indonesia’s
international airports.
3) Drawing conclusions
Drawing conclusions is the result of research that answers the research focus based on
the results of data analysis. Conclusions are presented in descriptive form by
presenting comparison data between the two corporate data.

References

Batubara, K. B. (2017). PHRASEOLOGY IN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER’S

COMMUNICATION. EduTech: Jurnal Ilmu Pendidikan dan Ilmu Sosial 3.2 (2017) .

Breul, C. (2013). Language in aviation: The relevance of linguistics and relevance theory.
LSP Journal, Vol.4, No.1 (2013) .

Kim, H., & Elder, C. (2009). UNDERSTANDING AVIATION ENGLISH AS A LINGUA

FRANCA PERCEPTIONS OF KOREAN AVIATION PERSONNEL. ARAL 32:3
(2009), 23.1-23.17. D .

Kraśnicka, I. (2016). ENGLISH WITH FLYING COLORS: THE AVIATION ENGLISH

AND THE INTERNATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION ORGANIZATION. STUDIES IN
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Lopez, S., Condamines, A., Josselin-Leray, A., O’Donoghue, M., & Salmon, R. (2013).
Linguistic Analysis of English Phraseology and Plain Language in Air-Ground
Communication. Journal of Air Transport Studies, 2013, 4 (1), pp.44-60.

Patton, M. Q. (2005). Qualitative Research. In B. S. Everitt, & D. C. Howell, Encyclopedia

of Statistics in Behavioral Science . Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Santos, M., Darling-Hammond, L., & Cheuk, T. (2012). Teacher Development to Support
English Language Learners in the Context of Common Core State Standards.
Understanding Language Conference January 13-14, 2012 Stanford University .