E-LEARNING COURSE FOR MARITIME ENGLISH

Abstract

The shipping industry has become more and more demanding as far as the General and Maritime English are concerned. This is due to the fact that most merchant ships are owned by foreign companies and manned by multinational crews who need to be competent to communicate in English orally and in writing. In this respect, the IMO (International Maritime Organization) and the STCW'95 (Standards of Training Certification and Watch-keeping) convention and code imposed a number of requirements regarding the seafarers' Maritime English knowledge and adequate use. As a result of the international maritime bodies' requirements, the SMCP (Standard Marine Communication Phrases) has become mandatory for the shipping industry worldwide. The SMCP is a comprehensive standardized safety language, precise, concise, simple and unambiguous so as to avoid confusion and error. It consists of a set of terms, definitions, phrases used on board ships, for ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communication. Therefore, the MET (Maritime Education and Training) teachers have to meet the challenge of designing attractive and efficient courses to motivate their students to acquire more easily and in a more pleasant way the maritime terminology. It seems that the solution would be the on-line courses which are becoming more and more popular with the 21st century students. Last year we piloted the first year deck cadet on-line course, which was originally a traditional class course-book. At the end of the course, we administered a course evaluation form, which the majority of the students filled in. After analysing the learners` commentaries and suggestions, we revised some of the units and added on more information. In a learner-centred type of education it is very important to involve the learners in teaching/learning materials or even course design. This makes them more responsible for the learning process and more willing to achieve success. In this paper we will present the students` and teachers` feedback on the e-learning course revised version presently in progress in the 2014-2015 academic year.