Explorations of Spoken Aeronautical Communication using Discourse-Analytic Approaches: Implications for Policy and Pedagogy

I have been exploring real-world recorded and transcribed texts from the domain of global aviation (see e.g., Friginal, Mathews, & Roberts, 2019). My theoretical and analytical framework emphasizes the identification of discursive practices across socio-cultural structures and task dimensions of talk in various communicative spaces, focusing especially upon speakers' (e.g., pilots and air traffic controllers) understanding of role-relationships, discoursal goals and objectives, cultural and racial identities, and power dynamics at work in the aviation industry. I then utilize various findings to argue for a reexamination of macro and micro language instruction and assessment policies. Specifically, as a focal study in this presentation, I will highlight my current research in cross-cultural aviation communications, exploring the language of pilots and air traffic controllers across various stages of flight. Implications, especially for the development of dedicated training materials on aviation phraseology will be presented and discussed.