The Effects of Vocabulary Mastery on Comprehending Maritime English Texts: A Case Study of Seafarers of Nautical Class

Abstract

To comprehend the larger units of text such paragraphs and
stories, the seafarers have to understand first Maritime English (ME)
vocabulary. The types of ME vocabulary can be divided into core
vocabulary type, semi-technical vocabulary type, and maritime and/or
technical vocabulary type. This case study involves eight (8) seafarers of
nautical class at Merchant Marine Academy who were investigated in
around six sessions of meeting. Maritime Vocabulary Mastery Test,
classroom observation, questionnaire, interview and reading
comprehension texts were the techniques to gather data to answer the
research questions. The result found that the seafarers who had mastered
the three vocabulary types indicated that they could perform better in
comprehending ME texts than those who only mastered semi-technical
and core vocabulary type. While, those who had only mastered core
vocabulary type and those who had not mastered the three vocabulary
type encountered more difficulties in comprehending ME texts because
understanding ME texts requires both specific and general meaning of
words. The more seafarers have mastery on the three types of maritime
vocabulary, the less they encounter difficulties in comprehending ME
texts.

Save to Mendeley