Excessive use of plain English was also identified by the informants as part of the
problem. Interestingly, all turns in plain English by this pilot were ultimately replaced
with phraseology which suggests that overuse of plain English is not entirely due to the
limitations of the existing phraseology repertoire, but at least partly to a view that this
is what is needed in abnormal or emergency situations. This finding accords with those
of studies conducted in the US radiotelephony context (Morrow et al. 1994; Howard,
2008), where interlocutors are for the most part native speakers of English. These
scholars report that when the communication becomes problematic, plain English tends
to be favoured by speakers and addressees to make sure that what they have understood
and/or are understood correctly. However, this in fact exacerbates the problem because
of their tendency to use ‘more complex syntax, vague or nonstandard terminology’
(Morrow et al., 1994, pp. 253–254). Plain English, in other words, is not very plain at
all