A B737 CAPT RPTS A PUSHBACK CREW WITH A LANGUAGE BARRIER DID NOT PUSH HIS ACFT FAR ENOUGH CAUSING A CONFLICT WITH AN A340.

Narrative

WE WERE PARKED AT GATE. THE RWY BEING USED WAS RWY 34L AND RWY 34R. I TOLD GND WE WERE CLRED TO PUSH FOR RWY 34. SHORTLY AFTER WE STARTED TO PUSH BACK; WE WERE TOLD 'CLRED TO START.' AS I WAS WATCHING THE #1 ENG START; THE GND ASKED US WHY WE WERE PUSHING BACK WITH OUR TAIL S. BY THEN WE WERE PAST 45 DEGS OF TURN SO THE ONLY THING I COULD DO WAS TO APOLOGIZE TO THE TWR. ABOUT THIS TIME; THEY WERE BRINGING US TO A STOP; HOWEVER; WE WERE ALMOST AT TXWY B. COMING SBOUND ON TXWY B WAS AN ACR Y A340. I TOLD THE PUSHBACK CREW WE HAD TO PUSH BACK TOWARDS THE VEHICLE LINE RATHER THAN STOP WAY OUT HERE. ABOUT THE SAME TIME; GND CTL ASKED US WHY WE WERE WAY OUT THERE AND SAID WE HAVE TO PUSH TOWARDS THE VEHICLE LINE. AS WE CONTINUED OUR PUSHBACK TOWARDS THE RAMP AREA; THE ACR Y CAME BY US WITH ABOUT 5 FT WINGTIP CLRNC. I ASKED THE PUSHBACK GUY WHAT WAS GOING ON. I BELIEVE THAT LANGUAGE WA A DEFINITE PROB WITH HIM. HE APPEARED TO SPEAK ONLY LIMITED ENGLISH! IF I HADN'T INSTRUCTED HIM TO CONTINUE BACK TOWARDS THE RAMP AREA; A VERY HIGH PROBABILITY OF WINGTIP OVERLAP WOULD HAVE OCCURRED WITH A POSSIBILITY OF CONTACT BTWN THE ACFT. OUR GND PERSONNEL NEED TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND WHAT THE PROPER PROCS FOR PUSHING FROM THE GATES THAT ARE RIGHT ALONG THE MAIN TXWY! I REALIZE THAT I NEED TO BE A LITTLE MORE AWARE OF WHAT THE GND CREW IS DOING WHILE WE ARE UNDER TOWBACK/PUSHBACK. UNFORTUNATELY; YOU BECOME VERY COMPLACENT THAT THE CREWS KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING -- ESPECIALLY WHEN WE ARE GOING BACKWARDS! IN THIS CASE; I WAS UNAWARE THEY WERE PUSHING ME BACK TO WHERE WE WERE A CONFLICT WITH ACFT ON TXWY B UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATE TO STOP THEM.