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Effect of AECMA simplified English on the comprehension of aircraft maintenance procedures by non-native English speakers

University of British Columbia

This study looked for an overall difference between the comprehension of a controlled language called Simplified English (SE) and the comprehension of standard English (non-SE) by non-native English speaking electronics technician students. Further, this study compared the effect of English-reading level on readers' comprehension, ability to locate information, and task completion time for an aircraft maintenance procedure written in SE and an equivalent procedure written in non-SE. The participants were 41 non-native English speaking students from 21 different countries enrolled in electronics technician programs at a technical school in British Columbia. Sixty-three percent of participants were enrolled in aviation-related programs. A reading test, the Accuracy Level Test by Ronald P. Carver, was first administered to participants to measure the English-reading ability of participants by grade level. Participants were then administered a comprehension test for which they were randomly assigned to read either the SE procedure or the non-SE procedure. The independent samples t-test was used to test for a significant difference between mean test scores for the SE group and the non-SE group. The chi-square test was performed on individual test questions, to look for a significant difference between the SE group and the non- SE group in response to individual questions. Ordinary least squares regression analysis was used to compare the overall difference in the relationship between reading level and comprehension, ability to locate information, and task completion time, for the SE group and the non-SE group. The Fisher Z test for testing independent correlation coefficients (r) was used to determine whether there was a significant difference between the regression lines for the SE group and the non-SE group. The results indicated that overall there was no significant difference between the comprehension of SE and the comprehension of non-SE by non-native English speakers. However, they showed a trend toward better comprehension of SE than non-SE, and suggested that non-native English speakers with lower reading levels benefit more from the use of SE than those with higher reading levels. Reading level was a significant predictor of comprehension and ability to locate information, but not of task completion time.

Thesis/Dissertation

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2009-05-26

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/8271

Language and Literacy Education

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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