Cave Hill Offers Specialty Language Course for Aviation Professionals
19 April 2023
(Front row, second from left) Dr. Stacy Denny and Instructor Ms. Shana Jones with the first cohort of students in the English for Aviation Programme
The University of the West Indies Cave Hill campus has achieved a historic first in becoming the inaugural tertiary institution in the region to offer specialty language teaching for aviation professionals.
English is recognized as the official language of the aviation sector under the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and as such industry professionals are required to attain an acceptable level of proficiency in the language according to ICAO standards. Pilots, engineers, technicians, and others in the aviation field can now study aviation english at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus.
The program which was launched on April 3
rd is the first of its kind at the tertiary level in the Caribbean and will be administered by the Centre for English Language Learning (CELL) at the Cave Hill campus. Head of the Centre Dr. Stacy Denny believes this is a momentous occasion for the campus as the programme can serve to strategically position the campus as a leader of this field in the region. “This is a tremendous feat for the campus given that this field of English language teaching is such a niche market globally and an even rarer phenomenon in this part of the region,” Dr. Denny said.
Deputy Principal of the Cave Hill campus, Professor Winston Moore expressed his support for the programme stating that it aligns with the institution’s thrust to expand its offerings beyond the English-speaking Caribbean and into the world at large. “The English for Aviation programme is yet another great illustration of how The UWI Cave Hill Campus not only strives for academic excellence, but also actively seeks to meet the needs of our diverse multicultural Caribbean Region,” he said.
Dr. Dion Greenidge, Interim Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business and Management echoed similar sentiments stating that the programme is the first of its kind in the region and will enable non-native English-speaking aviation professionals to develop technical jargon and skills related to aviation telephony as guided by the ICAO requirements.
The English for Aviation programme is a collaboration of CELL and the Ciel Outre-Mer Aeronautical Apprenticeship Training Center in Martinique which is headed by Madame Marie-Claude Valide, a veteran pilot and the first black female pilot in the Caribbean region. The pioneering professional, now retired, established the latter training centre in October 2022 as a means of training new aviation recruits without them having to leave the region.
The first cohort comprises fourteen males and one female, who have all received military training in Martinique prior to arrival in Barbados for the two-month course. As part of the programme, students will primarily learn how to use English in non-routine or emergency situations in communication with Air Traffic Control and how to better understand non-native speaker accents through phonetic and simulation training. Additionally, as part of the programme, the 15 participants will receive practical training, that is, learning the language in real-life context, at the Barbados Light Aeroplane Club under the supervision of Jeremy Stephens, a commercial pilot, and aviation instructor, Mr. Derek Gardier.
The two-month programme ends on May 26, 2023 with the expectation of future cohorts to follow.
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