Generolo Jono Žemaičio Lietuvos karo akademija

English is “lingua franca” in the maritime industry. Due to the shift from “knowing the vocabulary“ to “being able to use the English language in one’s workplace“, students are supposed not only to acquire maritime vocabulary but also be able to use it efficiently in the maritime context. In order to achieve this goal, students have to acquire large amounts of maritime vocabulary effectively and efficiently. The study analyses the strategies for vocabulary acquisition and how students use them in their studies. The results of the study show that lecturers acquaint students with basic maritime terminology. Students do not use all vocabulary learning strategies equally. The recommendations include encouraging the use of productive skills for vocabulary activation; more attention should be paid to the vocabulary learning strategies of memorizing and encoding, word formation and guessing from the context.

The article analyzes the requirements set out in legal documents for Maritime English (ME) teaching and the results of the survey on the view of students’, who completed seagoing training, needs for ME, in order to set the guidelines for further development of the ME teaching. The survey showed that understanding technical texts and listening were given the greatest importance. In addition, radio communication proved to be one of the most needed skills. As regards the evaluation of the topicality of the ME vocabulary for the work at sea, the students of Marine Engineering and Marine Navigation evaluated some topics of other programme as important ones. Thus, one of the areas to take into account is a wider view on the professional ME topics that are included in the courses for both marine engineers and navigators. Other suggestions for further development of the ME teaching are to pay more attention to radio communication and to develop the skills of reading technical documentation.