Features of language assessed

EALT assessors with language specialist expertise award ratings against the criteria contained in the ICAO Language Proficiency Rating Scale for each of the following features of language:

• Pronunciation
• Structure
• Vocabulary
• Fluency
• Comprehension
• Interactions

EALT assessors with aviation operational expertise award ratings reflecting a candidate’s overall communicative competence with reference to the criteria contained in the ICAO Holistic Descriptors of operational language proficiency:

• The extent to which the candidate is able to communicate effectively in voice-only (telephone / radiotelephone) and in face-to-face situations.
• The extent to which the candidate is able to communicate on common, concrete and work-related topics with accuracy and clarity.
• The extent to which the candidate is able to use appropriate communicative strategies to exchange messages and to recognize and resolve misunderstandings (e.g. to check, confirm, or clarify information) in a general or work-related context.
• The extent to which the candidate is able to handle successfully and with relative ease the linguistic challenges presented by a complication or unexpected turn of events that occurs within the context of a routine work situation or communicative task with which they are otherwise familiar.
• The extent to which the candidate is able to use a dialect or accent which is intelligible to the aeronautical community.

According to their area of professional expertise, all EALT assessors are given instructions on the kind of evidence they are required to collect to justify and support their evaluations in each of the features of language contained in the ICAO Language Proficiency Rating Scale and/or in each of the ICAO Holistic Descriptors of operational language proficiency.