ICAEA - International Civil Aviation English Association

8th ICAEA FORUM 2007

Moller Centre, Cambridge, UK
31 August – 1 September 2007

The event – better known as ‘Cambridge’ - was generally acclaimed as a success. The programme, the speakers, the workshops, the exhibitors, the stunning venue all made for an excellent Forum in a warm and welcoming atmosphere which made for an ease of exchange and dialogue now characteristic of ICAEA Forum events. Members from 37 nationalities attended representing a mix of teachers and trainers, writers and publishers, pilots and controllers, and ICAO itself.

The theme ‘Aviation English Training: Choices and Solutions’ was approached through a series of challenging workshops and exhibits where Aviation English materials were very much on display as the market demanded.

Nicole Barrette-Sabourin of ICAO set the tone from the outset pitching us into the heat of the testing debate and her call for help from ICAEA with the process of accreditation to avoid future confusion and chaos in testing standards was met with enthusiasm, 4 Working Groups took up her challenge and you will find reports on these workshops in the proceedings which follow. You will also find a copy of the ICAEA petition urging ICAO to create a system of language test accreditation which was signed enthusiastically by many of participants of the Forum.

Ian Gault (UK) and Ronald Vega Bolaños (Costa Rica) led a plenary session entitled ‘Operational Language Proficiency – The Operator’s Perspective’, giving the voice of pilots and air traffic controllers as regards the implementation of the language proficiency requirements. You will also find documentation of this session below.

The Forum was fittingly closed by Fiona Robertson, the original founder of ICAEA who said her own personal goodbye as she stepped down as President. The assembly gave her a warm and moving tribute.

In all, ICAEA Cambridge will be remembered for its dynamic move to demonstrate that the market is ready to meet the challenge ICAO has established in calling for new standards in English Language Proficiency in the interests of aviation safety. The materials and resources on show, the on-going research into Testing and training delivery, were all evidence that ICAEA was leading the field and was already closely involved and committed to meet the new challenges.