A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF-ASSESSMENT OF THE ICAO LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY REQUIREMENTS AND TEST OF ENGLISH FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION (TOEIC) OF THAI AIRWAYS INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT ATTENDANTS

Abstract

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has established English Language Proficiency Requirements (LPRs) for all flight crews operating on international routes and all air traffic controllers who communicate with foreign pilots. ICAO requires those who operate on international routes to be qualified at least in Operational Level 4 in the requirements. However, in Thailand, the only English test that all flight attendants are required to take is the TOEIC. Apparently, there is a mismatch between the TOEIC test scores and the ICAO LPRs. The current study thus explored the relationship between the ICAO LPRs and TOEIC scores of flight attendants in Thailand and their attitudes in order to better determine if the TOEIC is the most effective mean to recruit flight attendants in Thailand. The data were collected from 100 Thai Airways International flight attendants using a four-point Likert scale self-assessment survey to measure the participants’ self-assessed abilities on all ICAO rating scale descriptors focusing on Operational Level 4. The data were quantitatively analyzed with inferential statistics of Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient. Moreover, to elicit in-depth information regarding the attitudes of Thai airways flight attendants, the semi-structured interview protocols were also used and subsequently analyzed by means of content analysis. The findings of the current study revealed that there is a positive correlation between ICAO LPRs and TOEIC scores of Thai Airways International flight attendants, which was equal to 0.384, but this correlation was a weak uphill (positive) linear relationship. As a result, the present study suggests that Thai aviation companies should be aware of using TOEIC as a recruitment requirement. It is also recommended that the Thai aviation industry should develop their own English language proficiency test for staff recruitment process.