There is a growing body of research on Aviation English assessment for pilots, although with more focus on civil than military aviation. Thus, the aim of this study is to develop a comparative analysis of the assessment systems in both contexts, based on documents, to search for similarities and differences.
Language proficiency assessment for pilots is a topic of potential interest for language specialists and aviation professionals. Despite the growing number of investigations about this issue in the Brazilian civil aviation context (MONTEIRO, 2009; GARCIA, 2015; PRADO, 2018; PACHECO, 2019), fewer similar studies are found in the military (SILVA, 2016; BRUNO, 2018). In this session, I will present some preliminary findings from an ongoing mixed-method case study conducted for my Ph.D. dissertation on language assessment and test design. The aim of this session is to compare the ways in which pilots' English language proficiency has been assessed in two different contexts in Brazil: for military pilots from "Esquadrilha da Fumaça", the Air Demonstration team (EDA) from the Brazilian Air Force, and for civil aviation pilots. Firstly, I describe the way in which the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) has assessed the English language proficiency of its pilots, including the ones from EDA. Secondly, I identify the main characteristics of the Santos Dumont English Assessment (SDEA), developed and applied by the Brazilian National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) to assess the English language proficiency of civil pilots, according to the regulations established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Numerous scholars (DOUGLAS, 2000; KNOCH, MACQUEEN, 2016; ELDER et al., 2015) illuminated this work by emphasizing the specificities and pitfalls of assessing English for Specific Purposes (ESP). A qualitative approach was employed along with a bibliographic review of articles, books, and documents, such as DOC 9835 (2010), RBAC 061-EMD 13 (2020), ICA 55-103/2019, and ICA 37-324/2016. Results of a comparative analysis indicate that there are similarities in both assessment systems regarding i) the Target Language Use (TLU); ii) the necessary background knowledge. However, there are also a few differences related to i) requirements for certification; ii) types of tests; iv) test content; v) skills assessed. The comparative analysis also indicated that the test construct, in both contexts, seems to be underrepresented. These findings may contribute by giving visibility to some relevant and complex issues on language proficiency assessment for pilots, which may lead to future research on the subject not only in Latin America but worldwide.
