ERIC Number: EJ867282
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Dec
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0155-0640
EISSN: N/A
An Analysis of the Quality of English Testing for Aviation Purposes in Finland
Huhta, Ari
Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, v32 n3 p26.1-26.14 Dec 2009
This article describes and analyses the development of a new test of aviation English by the Finnish Civil Aviation Authority (FCAA), as well as the overall situation in Finland as regards the testing of aviation English. The article describes the FCAA development project and evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the new test and the whole testing system, often with reference to the framework of test usefulness proposed by Bachman and Palmer (1996). The quality of the overall system in Finland appears to be quite variable as it is based on the principle of decentralization, in which the FCAA evaluates and approves different tests to be used for certifying the English language skills of aviation personnel. On the other hand, the FCAA commissioned the creation of a test of its own, which appears to have certain strengths, but also has some flaws, such as a lack of systematic double rating of speaking and very little centralized monitoring of overall quality.
Descriptors: Testing, Aviation Education, Foreign Countries, Language Skills, Air Transportation, Language Tests, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Employees, Program Descriptions, Certification, Language Proficiency, Oral Language, Test Content, Test Format
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Finland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A