Validade ecológica de um simulador de voo para PC no uso de inglês como L2

Abstract

This research aimed at evaluating the ecological validity of a PC-based flight simulator game as a supporting tool for the study of the situated use of L2 English by pilots. Backed by the theory of distributed cognition, the first step was to seek an understanding of how representational processes of specific air traffic control instructions propagate through mediating artifacts in the pilots work environment. Next, a simulated activity was devised to verify the correspondence between the processes previously described and the performance of bilingual pilots in response to the same instructions in an off-the-shelf flight simulator game. Finally, the perceptions of the participants about the simulated activity were gathered. The study revealed a high level of fidelity between the simulated communicative situations and the communicative contingencies of the target domain. Furthermore, it showed a high level of involvement of the participants during the activity and a high receptivity towards the adoption of a PC-based flight simulator for the use of L2 English for air communications. The study suggests that the use of this type of flight simulator may be an economically viable and an ecologically valid option to establish a situated environment for the study of the use of L2 English, presenting the users with communicative demands similar to the ones found in the real world.