Abstract
The employment prospects for Bangladeshi seafarers in the global maritime industry have increased following several recognitions by international maritime regulatory bodies. To maintain the reputation of supplying competent English-speaking seafarers, the MET (Maritime Education and Training) institutes in Bangladesh require adopting a language policy and planning of Maritime English, as no such efforts have been made in this region. Therefore, this paper aims to draw lessons for the teaching and learning of English in maritime institutions in Bangladesh. Maritime institutions around the world have been unable to reach a consensus on the assessment methods, curriculum design, appropriate teaching materials, teaching methods, and qualifications of ME teachers. This paper addresses these areas of controversies through a language planning framework provided by Kaplan and Baldauf (Language and language-in-education planning in the Pacific Basin, Springer, Dordrecht, 2003). Through an integrative review, this paper advocates developing the communicative competence for the maritime students, giving equal emphasis on maritime and general English skills, being eclectic with the diverse selection of newer methods of teaching English, the creation of a unified curriculum, and the preparation of materials that meet the needs and cultural relevance of learners, setting qualifications for English teachers in the maritime sector, and adding a descriptor to the assessment system. The proposed language planning framework based on existing global practices will help the MET institutes in Bangladesh standardize their training and produce more efficient English-speaking seafarers.
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Data availability
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.
Abbreviations
- BIMCO:
-
Baltic and International Maritime Council
- BMA:
-
Bangladesh Marine Academy
- BMFA:
-
Bangladesh Marine Fisheries Academy
- BSc:
-
Bachelor of Science
- CBI:
-
Content-Based Instruction
- CLL:
-
Cooperative Language Teaching
- CLT:
-
Communicative Language Teaching
- CMSA:
-
China Maritime Safety Administration
- ELT:
-
English Language Teaching
- EMI:
-
English Medium Instruction
- ESP:
-
English for Specific Purposes
- EU:
-
European Union
- GBL:
-
Game-Based Learning
- GE:
-
General English
- GMDSS:
-
Global Maritime Distress and Safety System
- GME:
-
General Maritime English
- GPA:
-
Grade Point Average
- GTM:
-
Grammar Translation Method
- ICS:
-
International Chamber of Shipping
- ICT:
-
Information and Communication and Technology
- IELTS:
-
International English Language Testing System
- IMarEST:
-
Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology
- IMO:
-
International Maritime Organization
- LNG:
-
Liquified Natural Gas
- Marlins:
-
Maritime English Test for Seafarers
- MarTEL:
-
Maritime Test for English Language
- MCQ:
-
Multiple Choice Questions
- ME:
-
Maritime English
- MET:
-
Maritime Education and Training
- MNTB:
-
Merchant Navy Training Board
- NI:
-
Nautical Institute
- SMCP:
-
Standard Marine Communication Phrases
- SME:
-
Specialized Maritime English
- STCW:
-
Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping
- TBLT:
-
Task-based Language Teaching
- UGC:
-
University of Grants Commission, Bangladesh
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Acknowledgements
The researcher would like to give his sincere thanks to the Post Graduate Research Management and Technology Transfer Centre of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University, Bangladesh, and University Grants Commission, Bangladesh for their project approval, funding, and support for this research. Without their assistance, this research would not become a successful venture.
Funding
This research was funded by University Grants Commission (UGC), Bangladesh and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University, Bangladesh by Ref No. BSMRMU/PRMTTC-456/Part-2/20/34 dated 29 September, 2020. Every year, UGC provides research funds to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University, Bangladesh (BSMRMU), for conducting research in their institution. BSMRMU separately divides this fund among the teachers depending on their submitted proposals. The title of the original research project was ‘Developing a corpus of Maritime English in Bangladeshi context’. To conduct this research project, the researcher has reviewed a big number of maritime English articles from which he has prepared the current review article. A fund of $4700 has been accepted and the researcher is currently running the corpus development project.
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Ahmmed, R. A framework for Maritime English language planning in Bangladeshi maritime education and training institutes . SN Soc Sci 1, 168 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-021-00188-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-021-00188-5