Summary

A recent study found that almost 65% of all commercial ships have multinational crews. Over 10% of the fleet has crews with members from five or more nationalities.

(Kahveki, E. Lane T. and Sampson, H., (2001), Transnational Seafarers Communities, Cardiff University, Seafarers International Research Centre, Cardiff.)

Summary

The STCW convention, which specifies the minimum standards for training and certification of seafarers in 133 countries worldwide, specifies that seafarers should be able to speak English.

Summary

The CAPTAINS project will provide computer based English language training materials and courses for non-native speakers of English, aimed specifically at the seafaring vocation.

Summary

The materials and courses will be designed following a thorough needs analysis of seafarers and maritime English teachers from all around the world, and will be created in collaboration with experienced captains, chief engineers, and maritime English experts.

Main Goals • To contribute to an enhanced safety at sea culture by improving English communication

skills, oral or written, through the identification of safety issues based on existing real-life critical situations emerging from English communication problems and diverse cultures due to multi-national ship crews.

• To create a respective knowledge base of such real-life scenarios of ineffective English communication and their relevance to potential critical situations.

• To develop attractive rich media interactive virtual simulators of identified real-life scenarios taking place on ship (bridge, engine, deck and social interaction) to allow for effective learning of functional communication of maritime English and avoid culturally originated communicative incompetence or misunderstandings.

• To achieve transfer and evolution of knowledge by merging advanced

learning/collaboration and evaluation software that already exists (AIT) and the rich media interactive learning simulations resulting from aims 2 and 3.

Main Goals • To develop an assessment method which will lead to some form of certification,

thereby allowing professionals to establish a meaningful and well-established as well as standardised way to carry out safety critical procedures based on a communication on meaningful topics.

• To increase cooperation between the training institutions and several social partners for overcoming linguistic and cultural deficiencies, resulting in the need to develop new vocational skills such as communicative English competence. Optimized learning will be achieved by using real-life scenarios for preparation of innovative rich media simulations that will motivate learners, defining a scenario-based learning approach.

• To enhance maritime VET by integrating innovative Information and Communication Technology (ICT) together with the latest refinements in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in maritime VET.

Partners

• University of the Aegean (AEGEAN)• Centre for Factories of the Future (C4FF)• Athens Information Technology (AIT)• TUDEV Institute of Maritime Studies• 1st Evening Vocational Senior School of Egaleo (EPAL)• Osrodek Prac Rozwojowych (OPR - Centre for Development

Works)• University of Cadiz (UCA)• Bureau of Vocational Training, 3rd Sector of Athens, Ministry of

Education and Lifelong Learning (BVT)

Work Packages• WP1 Project Management• WP2 User Requirements Collection and Needs Analysis• WP3 Novel Learning Approaches• WP4 Course Design and Development• WP5 Learning Platform• WP6 Training Events and Evaluation• WP7 Dissemination• WP8 Exploitation and Sustainability

WP2 – User Requirements Collection and Analysis

• To come in close contact with stakeholders and target user groups in the maritime sector in order to fully understand the nature of the problem of ineffective English communication.

• To form up questionnaires, contact interviews, run user workshops, etc. so as to gather appropriate feedback and analyse the needs of target user groups based on the initial discussions with them.

• To define a knowledge base of maritime accidents where poor communication in English was a contributing factor.

WP2 – User Requirements Collection and Analysis

Deliverables

• User workshop results report.• Knowledge base of maritime accidents due to ineffective English

communication.

WP2 – User Requirements Collection and Analysis

Knowledge Base

• A knowledge base containing reports of maritime accidents contributed to by failures in communication was formed by C4FF.

• Two examples came from questionnaire participants. • The knowledge base has been sampled in the course design process

(which is ongoing).

Completed Steps

• Research on maritime accidents due to communication failures • Online Surveys

– Seafarers’ questionnaire– Maritime English Teachers’ questionnaire

• Analysis of Surveys - learning needs• Workshops with Academia, Industry and Stakeholders• Syllabus design - content and level setting

Future Steps

• Syllabus review• Training scenarios • E-learning system• 2D/3D Animations• Implementation

– initial training sessions– Evaluation– Final training session

• Dissemination and Exploitation• Sustainability

www.captains.pro