Annual General Assembly 2005 - Malmö

Section 3

Reducing intercultural communication barriers between seafarers with different cultural backgrounds.

Y. Q. Wang¹ & P. Gu²
1 - Foreign Languages College, Dalian Maritime University, China
School of International and Community Studies, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia.
2 - Foreign Languages College, Dalian Maritime University, China

ABSTRACT

Safe operation of vessels depends on effective and efficient maritime communication, which requires seafarers to communicate linguistically, crossculturally, and interpersonally. This study investigated cross-cultural communication barriers and factors involved in maritime communication. Chinese and foreign seafarers, pilots, shore staffs, "seafarer" students and maritime educators were invited to participate in the study. Both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were used. The results showed that linguistic competence, cross-cultural competence, interpersonal relationship competence, and psychological quality, were all indispensable and worked together to contribute to the success of maritime communication. These findings can shed light on maritime education and training. In order to make seafarers cross-culturally more competent, the cultural aspects should be incorporated into the maritime English teaching curriculum.

Keywords: cross-cultural communication, communication barriers, crosscultural competence, interpersonal relationship, maritime communication.

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