Abstract

This study describes the organisation of air traffic control (ATC) communication through qualitative conversational analysis of 17 exchanges between air traffic controllers in English as a Lingua Franca. Since ATC communication is both a public safety issue (Arminen et al. 2010) and an ELF issue (Kim and Elder 2009), the aim of the study is to explore how air traffic controllers negotiate their understanding of operations with other controllers. The results show evidence of atypicality from a procedural perspective which may contribute to potential miscommunication. The conclusion assesses how an ELF approach can contribute to possible improvements in training procedures.