Publikationen

The paper focuses on the maritime project entitled “VTS-Bot” which aims to exploit the innovative use of computer dialogue systems (aka ChatBots) to assist future Officers of the Watch (OOW) in acquiring maritime communication skills based on the IMO (International Maritime Organization) SMCP (Standard Marine Communication Phrases). As part of their training, deck and engineering cadets in the Merchant Marine are required to obtain a mandatory range of communication competencies in line with the IMO STCW code (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping, chapter II, table A-II/1). The VTS-Bot developed within the project is freely available online and allows students to practise the relevant maritime communication at their own individual learning pace, thus establishing a student-centred educative approach. The exercises contained in the ChatBot target the compulsory Part A of the IMO SMCP used in VHF communication, and provide authentic maritime scenarios wherein the cadet conducts in real time a simulated maritime conversation with the ChatBot.

The research paper is the second in a series of studies on an improved use of the Standard Marine Communication Phrases (SMCP) during an international low-fi simulation exercise in a classroom setting. Following a briefing on the use of relevant SMCP by means of an e-learning platform, students of Maritime English at several maritime universities participated in a virtual bridge team exercise. The communication patterns employed in their situational assessment and decision making were compared to previous low-fi simulations whereby participants had not received any briefing on the use of SMCP prior to the exercise [1] (cf. John et al., 2013). Based on the different features observed in both exercise settings, the scope for using a constructivist learning environment as offered by low-fi simulations is discussed and possibilities for an integral pedagogical approach towards teaching standard phraseology are outlined.

Gustafsson’s (2004)1 linguistic scrutiny of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Standard Marine Communication Phrases (SMCP) reveals, amongst other characteristics, that almost 900 of the 2,500 so-called “content words” appear only once in the document offering “no support from repetition in the learning task” (ibid. p.179). The accusation that the SMCP are difficult to learn is a criticism often leveled at the phrases. Indeed, teachers of Maritime English frequently struggle to find an optimum means to encourage learning of this particular aspect of the syllabus. The aim of the SMCP is, however, to promote and enhance safety at sea through concise, unambiguous communication and, as a result, knowledge and use of the phrases are required by the IMO Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW). Such justifiable and laudable motives are, one would think, enough to encourage any cadet “worth his or her salt” to master the SMCP. Experience in many MET institutions proves otherwise however.This paper suggests that classroom “low-fi” simulation of bridge team interaction may be used as an innovative means of encouraging and developing competent use of English, including SMCP, during onboard communication. In December 2012, the first of a proposed series of simulations was conducted at Novia University of Applied Sciences in Finland, Jade University of Applied Sciences in Germany and Antwerp Maritime Academy in Belgium. This paper describes the methodology used for the simulation and then goes on to analyse aspects of the data gathered. Using John’s2 (2013) method of analysis, a system of quantifying the content in utterances is applied to highlight technical language and, in particular, SMCP content words. Questions arising from the communication flows produced may have pedagogical implications: does, for example, increased use of the SMCP result in less ambiguity and ultimately greater communicative precision?