曝光台 注意防骗
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class of important cues stress, pitch, pause and intonation in the English language.
The most important is stress which can often make the meaningful difference between
two words. For example, IN-sult and PER-mit are nouns, while in-SULT and per-
MIT are verbs—the phonemes are the same but the stress distinguishes the meaning.
Differential stress in a sentence may distinguish an adjective-noun combination and a
proper name; e.g. George lived in the white house. Compared with many languages,
English has a high degree of differential stress, the application of which is determined
by some fairly regular, though highly complex, rules. It is a very difficult aspect of
English for speakers of such languages as French and Japanese where differential
stress is much less marked. Pitch and tone make no difference within a given syllable
in English and most modern European languages, whereas in so-called non-tonal
languages as Chinese and Vietnamese, pitch can distinguish one word from another.
In Mandarin, he can mean “drink”, “river”, “and”, “box”, or “congratulations”,
depending on whether it is spoken with a flat, rising, falling plus rising, or falling
tone. Pitch is important in English insofar as it combines stress to produce
characteristic intonation patterns to state, question or exclaim an utterance. These
patterns are so strong that even a declarative sentence becomes a question if spoken
with a rising intonation: The aircraft is taxiing?. Stress on a particular word can
radically alter the meaning of a sentence:
a. Drive to the park (not city)
b. Drive to the park (don’t walk).
The irregularity of English adds to its complexity so that even a simple pause between
syllables can change the meaning of a sentence. For example, a pause after the /t/
determines the sequence of phonemes as either night rate or nitrate. Such is the
flexibility of the language that two phrases with almost identical structures and words
can convey entirely different meanings. Morrow (1997:22) uses this example:
Concorde flies like an arrow but fruit flies like an apple.
This flexibility is incompatible with the need for unambiguous communication in air
traffic control.
29
Obviously the potential for serious misunderstandings between controllers and pilots
is high during international aviation communications. Uplinger (1997) recommends
learning special terminology in the context of the general language in which it is used.
Thus ATC phraseology should be taught to those who have a relatively advanced
knowledge of English. Only then would they have the ability to avoid ambiguity or
the ability to clarify and resolve ambiguous situations. The French 3-year air traffic
control course is completed in an English-speaking environment (Casanova, 1992)
while Hong Kong controllers are regularly sent to England or Australia to improve
their English skills and confidence (Parker, 1997). Following several highly
publicised incidents, including a near miss by an Aerolineas Argentinas aircraft with
the World Trade Centre in New York, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
recently proposed that ICAO establish English language standards; surprising
perhaps, because, as we have previously noted, the American system does not
conform with ICAO standards of telephony. In establishing an English training
course for Russian controllers, writes Goertz (1997), instructors intended using the
American model of English. But following research which indicated that much of the
future growth of aviation would be in developing countries, the course was
constructed around standard ICAO.
Those whose native language is not English are at a disadvantage during non-routine
communications. In these situations, constant vigilance of spoken words and context
is required of pilots and controllers to ensure that each understands the other.
4.3 Canada and the Issue of Bilingual Air Traffic Control
The almost casual way in which English has been chosen as the language of
international aviation can be considered culturally offensive and is construed by some
as cultural imperialism (Morrow, 1997; Sprogis, 1997). Nowhere has the issue been
more fully explored than Canada where, in the 1970’s, a Commission of Inquiry into
Bilingual Air Traffic Services was established in Quebec to resolve the right (or
otherwise) of French Canadians to have air traffic control conducted in their own
language. The use of French had been rejected by English-speaking controllers and
pilots as a reduction in safety because pilots would be unable to maintain situational
awareness if they did not understand what other pilots and controllers were saying.
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