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English language proficiency test

chflyer wrote:

when obtaining an EASA licence conversion from an FAA certificate, only ELP 4 is granted

Correct. You automatically get a level 4 (so valid for 4 years) BUT backdated to the date of your last BFR.

LFCS (Bordeaux Léognan Saucats)

The FAA plastic card may denote only ELP4 but there is no way anybody could get an FAA PPL with a US DPE with the “bonking” ELP competence in Jim’s video

The guy in the video was basically illegible to most English speakers, although – as is normal – he would have been legible to a French person (it’s how accents work). He would probably get ELP4 – enough for an ATC job within France – but no way could you call that “conversational English”.

It must be a challenge for Jim, as an ELP examiner, to make the proper allowance for the accent being legible to a French person, and IIRC he has written about this challenge previously (here or elsewhere).

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

It is interesting that the “English Proficient” statement on an FAA certificate indicates an ELP of at least level 4, per AC 60-28B section 6.4.

I believe that in many (most?) EASA countries, when obtaining an EASA licence conversion from an FAA certificate, only ELP 4 is granted even for native language English speakers. If desired, an ELP 5 or 6 would need to be obtained separately using the normal EASA process for the country in question.

LSZK, Switzerland

That’s very funny

Is that for ELP4?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Some embarassing mistakes heard on these tests…..



LFCS (Bordeaux Léognan Saucats)

I’ve met A-A and the only way he would not get ELP6 would be with an examiner who has some inferiority complex

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

It’s surprising how different the ELP assessment procedures seems to be in different countries. When I got my ELP6 I spent perhaps an hour with an examiner. That was almost 10 years ago, but I remember that I had to describe a situation in a picture, listen to a poor quality recording and generally have a conversation. There were probably more things I can’t recall now but it was not nearly as formal as what seems to be the case in France and Germany.

Last Edited by Airborne_Again at 27 Nov 05:20
ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden

Chris wrote:

I‘m wondering why these regulations are not published in advance to anyone who is going to book this LP tests. I was not informed before about these „ICAO guidelines“

The EASA regulation on Language Proficiency (FCL.055) makes no mention that “the lowest level always defines the overall level”, but its AMC does refer to the “Manual on the Implementation of ICAO Language Proficiency Requirements” (ICAO Doc 9835) for “further guidance”. That document is (surprisingly!) available online at the ICAO web site.

It does say (in §6.3.2.11) that “The final score for each test-taker should not be the average or aggregate of the ratings in each of the six ICAO language proficiency skills but the lowest of these six ratings.”

ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden

This is the prescribed evaluation process of the ICAO guidelines

“Prescribed” and “Guidelines” seem to me to be largely incompatible concepts

ICAO does not in reality make law and based on that feedback their “guidelines” for examining ELP appear to be silly, wildly overdone, in the context of pilot qualification. The ICAO guidelines also do not prevent the FAA from accepting an FAA designated pilot examiner’s (DPE) evaluation, finding you to be English Language Proficient based on your passing the Private Pilot check ride, and printing it on your credit card sized pilot certificate to remain there for the rest of time. All without any regimented test protocol for English language proficiency, nor a detailed written assessment, nor any grading of specific language attributes.

Last Edited by Silvaire at 27 Nov 05:08

@ Silvaire and an update (for whom it may concern) according to your suggestion to request the evaluation scheme: here the answer of this testing company:

„Thank you for your message! It is understandable that you are questioning this assessment, but the ICAO guidelines state that the lowest level always defines the overall level. This means that if even one of the 12 ratings had been on L5, the “overall level” would also have been an L5. This is the prescribed evaluation process of the ICAO guidelines.“

I‘m wondering why these regulations are not published in advance to anyone who is going to book this LP tests. I was not informed before about these „ICAO guidelines“

TB20 Airman
Borkenberge EDLB, Germany
98 Posts
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