Definition
An instructional practice in which the instructor explicitly states the meaning of words, phrases, and technical terms used during a lesson, rather than assuming the learner already knows them. It is a core teaching behavior recommended for aviation instructors to prevent learner confusion and ensure shared understanding of subject matter.
Plain English
Don't assume your student knows what a word means. Stop and explain it. Even simple-sounding words can mean something specific in aviation, and the student may quietly be lost if you skip past them.
Context Anchor
Seen in instructor guidance about how to communicate professionally and clearly with students.
Why Pilots Care
Prevents students from continuing past unclear words and reduces the risk of confusion or errors during training.
Intuition Check
The key trap is thinking “common” means “already understood.” In instruction, a common term may be common to pilots but still new or unclear to a student.
Example Sentence 1
When introducing the lesson on stalls, the instructor took a moment to define common terms such as angle of attack, critical angle, and load factor before going further.
Example Sentence 2
By taking time to define common terms during the briefing, the CFI kept the student from misinterpreting checklist items.