Annual General Assembly 2003 - Alexandria

Session 6 WGIII

Maritime English, Critical Thinking and American ESL Programs

Graham Benton
California Maritime Academy 200 Maritime Academy Drive Vallejo, CA 94590
Email: gbenton@csum.edu

ABSTRACT

The IMO clearly requires adequate communication skills in the language of English; for many Maritime Universities, however, often the resources allocated to the teaching of English are minimal and the acquisition of sound speaking and writing skills are subordinated to the acquisition of technical maritime expertise. A solution to this dilemma can be found by turning to the pedagogical strategies and extensive resources being produced in U.S. ESL (English as a Second Language) programs.

Because of a dramatic increase in the number of non-English speakers gaining admission to U.S. colleges and universities, many of these academic institutions have had to radically redefine and develop writing programs to accommodate this new population. One result of this transformation is a shift in the way educators think about teaching language: while it is widely recognized that the communicative approach to teaching language emphasizes vocabulary, syntax, and the meaning of language, recent developments suggest that students also need to use creative and critical thinking skills. Moreover, these critical capabilities need to be implemented not as latter-stage, upper-level objectives, but rather through a methodology embedded in the subject matter and woven into the curriculum at all levels.

English language instructors at International Maritime Universities should avail themselves to the resources established by U.S. ESL programs, specifically those which are disseminated freely to the international community via the world wide web. Such resources include, but are not limited to, downloadable web-based educational material, reviews of effective pedagogical strategies, and opportunities for online international communication partnerships between students of different countries. By exploiting and utilizing the groundwork already covered by other universities, and by modifying this work to suit our own needs and desires, the efficiency of teaching Maritime English can be dramatically improved.

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