Virtual Learning Tool for the Training of the Standard Marine Communication Phrases

Marine communications established between ships, between ship and land-based marine stations or between ship and helicopter services require the use of controlled sentence-patterns developed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to avoid language ambiguities which may generate a safety risk during navigational moments at sea, when the ship is berthing in port or when the ship is leaving the berth. In the academic setting, training and learning of this fixed compendium of English sentences involves a special effort. On the one hand, a given student can hardly train on his/her own, and needs someone else to simulate the interactions that take place in the maritime context. On the other hand, when training with other students, different English language levels come together and particular learners' strategies and learning pace coalescence in the language classroom. To address these issues, in this work we have developed the SMCP-Training tool for practising Maritime English course communications. This tool was used in two language courses taught at the School of Marine, Nautical and Radioelectronics Engineering of the University of Cádiz (Spain). Both the results collected after the tests were conducted and the students' impressions offer positive evidence about the benefits of its use as a primary resource for learning in virtual educational spaces and as a reinforcement of what has been learned.