ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a case study of a Web-based “aviation English” course to illustrate the complex and multifaceted aspects of culture—national, professional, and pedagogical—that can influence the way the training is designed and delivered and the way the trainees interact with all facets of the course. It examines the multiple layers of cultures and relevant subcultures—national, professional, and pedagogical—that can affect a group of trainees. The chapter presents a case study of the development and delivery of online training in aviation English for an international audience of commercial pilots, where there are regulatory constraints on adapting the content to local cultures. Cultural biases about appropriate educational models run very deep and influence the way members of a particular culture act and feel. Course design using any form of cybereducation—from computer-aided instruction to strictly online delivery to the use of an acculturated blended learning model—must consider a complex collection of elements and the ways in which they interact.
