Annual General Assembly 2006 - Dalian

Project Session 1

Developing The TOMEC - est Of Maritime
English Competence - Toward Global
Standardization Of Maritime English Assessment

Naoyuki Takagi, Yoko Uchida

ABSTRACT

This paper is the first report of a joint project between the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (TUMSAT) and the California Maritime Academy, a California State University (CMA) to develop a test of maritime English competence (TOMEC) under a grant given to the TUMSAT by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to enhance the quality of Maritime English Education at the TUMSAT. In order to properly assess each learner's competence in Maritime English as required by the STCW 95, the authors developed a multiple choice test that consists of five parts. The first three parts are for testing listening comprehension. Here test takers are required to choose one statement that best describes a picture, to find an appropriate answer to a question, and to answer a written question after listening to a conversation or an announcement. The last two parts are designed to assess learners' basic vocabulary and grammar, and reading comprehension. The principles in designing these items and what aspect of Maritime English is assessed by each part are discussed in detail. We have prepared 2 versions for deck and 2 versions for engine cadets, each version or test consisting of 100 questions in total, the first three listening parts with 50, and the remaining two parts with another 50 questions. Recordings were made in Japan by two professional narrators of British English. What makes the present project so unique is the close collaboration between non-native, non-sea-going English teachers who are familiar with language testing on one hand and English speaking captain and chief engineer who are ÒlivingÓ Maritime English on the other. Only after such complimentary contribution can one expect a good test of Maritime English that is both reliable and valid. Although the test was originally made to assess the effectiveness of the newly introduced maritime English courses at the TUMSAT, it certainly can be used to assess any person's command of maritime English. The authors wish to further increase the number of exam items and to standardize different versions by giving the TOMEC to students studying at different IAMU member institutions.

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