Creating an English Technical Word List for Thai Air Traffic Control Officers: A Corpus-Based Approach

Abstract

The aviation industry plays a critical role in Thailand’s economy and global connection, and, thus, places a significant responsibility on Air Traffic Control Officers (ATCOs) to maintain both safety and efficiency. However, many Thai ATCOs face challenges in understanding International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) publications due to limited proficiency in vocabulary. To address this issue, this study developed an English technical word list for Thai ATCOs to support their understanding of ICAO publications. A corpus-based approach was applied by focusing on 19 Annexes by ICAO which were compiled into a written corpus of over 1.2 million tokens. The word list was developed based on five criteria, including frequency, range, lexical profiling, keyword analysis, and expert viewpoints. The final word list resulted in 139 technical terms excluding general and irrelevant vocabulary. This technical word list can be used to support Thai ATCOs in interpreting ICAO standards more effectively for improved communication and enhanced operational safety.