CALL in an ESP Context - TUMSAT's Maritime English Initiative -
Naoyuki Takagi, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (TUMSAT)
The importance of English as the "lingua franca" at sea has recently increased considerably as more and more merchant vessels have come to be manned by multilingual crews. In response, the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (TUMSAT) launched its Maritime English Initiative under a grant provided by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. (http://www2.kaiyodai.ac.jp/~takagi/mei/index.html) In this presentation for WorldCALL 2008, computer-assisted parts of our general and Maritime English education will be discussed in the light of CALL in an ESP context.
Any type of ESP shares essentially the same grammar and phonology with general English. We regard the proper use of tense and voice as essential for successful onboard communication and provide web-based learning tools for these. We also offer an interactive site to improve English pronunciation and listening skills focusing on Maritime English, and another site that helps future seafarers to cope with various accents of English that they will inevitably encounter at sea.
The biggest challenge for ESP instructors is technical vocabulary. Thus, we created a Maritime English Database, and are using its subsets as vocabulary lists for memorization. Also offered through our web-site are a series of lectures on navigation and engineering delivered by English speaking experts.
We believe conscious knowledge of grammar and vocabulary items can only be internalized through meaningful language use. Accordingly, we emphasize actual use of Maritime English in our classroom, and also utilize our bridge simulator, diesel engine lab, and training ships for Maritime English instruction.
Computer-based language learning tools such as web-sites, vocabulary lists, and video clips can easily be shared over the Internet. In this sense, CALL does "bridge the world." English instructors in various ESP fields should make the best use of this technological advantage for the benefit of their students.
Naoyuki Takagi graduated from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies with a master's degree in English in 1989 and obtained his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California at Irvine in 1993. He has published many papers in cross language speech perception since then and worked on several English-Japanese dictionaries as well. In the Maritime English field, he has produced a Maritime English pronunciation site and published a Maritime English textbook for deck cadets. He was in charge of the Maritime English Initiative as a full professor in the Faculty of Marine Engineering, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. He has recently been appointed steering board member of the International Maritime Lecturers' Association, the International Maritime English Conference (IMLA-IMEC).
