Aims and objectives of the study
By analyzing marine orders used in radiotelephony (external communications) and on board communications, this research aims at investigating what speech act is realized in marine orders and what linguistic features lead to the effectiveness of these orders in maritime communication This aim of the research is specified by the following objectives:
- Clarifying the effectiveness of marine orders in communication at sea and comparing orders used in on-board communications and in radiotelephony (external) communications The features to be investigated encompass the type of speech act realized by these orders and some of their linguistic features including directness, types of sentence, length of sentence and the density of technicality
- Helping students in the Navigation Department of VIMARU better understand the effectiveness of maritime orders in terms of the above features.
Scope of the study
Language used in navigation is so different and typical which contains many issues for further in-depth studies However, due to the limitation of a minor thesis, this research only focuses on marine orders in terms of speech acts and such linguistic features as directness, types of sentence, length of sentence and the density of technicality Besides, there is also a comparison between orders used on board and in external communications These command sentences are selected from the most popular conversations on radio broadcast, marine websites, articles, books and recordings of language use in real life.
Significance of the study
Investigating marine orders in terms of speech acts and some of their linguistic features, the study is expected to make certain contributions to the related populations including navigational teachers and students teaching and learning marine orders, the seafarers who use marine orders in their communications and researchers of the same subjects
First of all, theoretically, by pointing out the speech acts realized in marine orders and their linguistic features, maritime teachers and students (who are seafarers themselves) will better understand the effectiveness of these orders in communications and consequently use them more appropriately and effectively
Similar to navigational teachers and students, practically, the seafarers can achieve a more efficient communications by mastering orders used in certain situations In addition, through understanding the notion of speech acts and the linguistic features of maritime orders, they will have a better selection and treatment of message markers when delivering and receiving orders especially in emergencies.
Research methodology
With such aims, this study is to answer the following questions:
1 What speech act is realized in marine orders?
2 How are directness, types of sentence, length of sentence and the density of technicality realized in maritime orders?
3 What are the differences between orders used on – board and in external communications in terms of speech act and some linguistic features such as categories, directness, types of sentences, length of sentence and the density of technicality?
The answers to these questions will expose what categories of speech acts and what linguistic features have greater effect on making marine orders clearer and hence more effective in marine communications In addition, the study is hoped to clarify how marine orders adapt themselves when used in different contexts, for example, in different weather conditions to ensure the effectiveness in communications
To find the answers to the questions above, the combination of quantitative and contrastive analysis methods will be applied respectively For the first two questions, quantitative method is used to find out what speech act is realized in maritime orders and how the act of ordering is realized in marine orders in terms of their directness, types of sentences, length of sentences, and the density of technicality When comparing on-board orders and radiotelephony (external) orders, the contrastive analysis method is used to find out the similarities and differences between them in terms of those linguistic features
To answer the research questions, 190 English marine orders were selected from various sources such as maritime textbooks, websites and videos recorded in real communications The orders selected were of two main types: external (radio telephony) communications and on board communications for descriptive and contrastive analysis External communications mainly deal with radio conversations exchanged between ships (ship’s officer) and shore stations (shore personnel) while on board communications are orders among captains, officers, and sailors (helmsmen) The orders were analyzed in terms of the following categories: speech act categories, directness, types of sentence, length of sentence and the density of technicality to study their linguistic features and uses
190 English marine orders were quantitatively and contrastively analyzed in term of their speech act categories, linguistic features and the differences between them Four tables were generated to assist in the analyzing process Two tables listed the categories of speech acts realized in marine orders used in external as well as on-board communications The other two tables investigated more about the linguistic features of the orders used on-board and in external communications namely directness, types of sentence, length and density of technicality Based on
All these data analyses were summed up to find out the most general ideas about how language is used in marine orders.
Design of the study
The study consists three parts as follow:
Part A: INTRODUCTION This part outlines the background of the research In this part, discussions are made about the rationale, aims and objectives, significance, methodology and design of the research
Part B: DEVELOPMENT This part falls into four chapters:
Chapter 1: Theoretical Background and Literature Review This chapter presents theoretical background of the study in which categories of speech acts and the act of ordering are discussed Meanwhile, it gives an overview of previous researches related to the study
Chapter 2: Methodology This chapter introduces the research questions, research methods, data, and data analysis methods
Chapter 3: Data analysis The chapter analyses the data collected
Chapter 4: Findings and discussions This chapter discusses the findings of the data analyzed in chapter 3
Part C: CONCLUSION This part draws important conclusions about the study and makes some suggestions for further researches
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Speech act and discourse analysis
From different points of view, discourse is understood and defined in different ways Richard et al (1985:83) define discourse as “a general term for examples of language use, i.e., language which has been produced as the results of an act of communication It refers to larger units of language such as paragraphs, conversation and interview” Meanwhile, Crystal (1992:25) defines discourse as “a continuous stretch of (especially spoken) language larger than sentence, often constituting a coherent unit, such as a sermon, argument, joke or narrative”
There is a number of other definitions of discourse, for the purpose of this study, I would like to follow Widdowson’s definition (1984:4 as cited in Nguyen Hoa, 2000) “Discourse is a communicative process by means of interaction.” By this way, discourse is not simply a representation or a verbal record of the communicative but it includes many situational factors that is context of the situation, the meanings or intention that the speaker/ writer assigns to a linguistic means or expressions Therefore, discourse analysis will be the analysis of language in use In order to interpret discourse successfully, there must be an establishment of coherence because in many cases, the speaker’s intention is not literally conveyed For example:
Mother: The grass is growing fast in the garden
Son: I’m going to have a group study this morning, mother
In this example, the mother does not directly ask her son to do the gardening but the sentence “The grass is growing fast in the garden” can be functioned as a request Although there is no formal link in this conversation, the listener can still infer that the son refuses his mother’s request Therefore, when trying to comprehend spoken or written discourse, we must simultaneously perceive both the propositional meaning and functional meaning of the speaker or writer
However, when using language, we not only make propositional statements about objects, entities, states of affairs and so on but we also fulfill functions such as requesting, denying, introducing, apologizing etc Such entities are called
“speech act” or the things people do through language (Nunan:1993) The use of this term was coined by the linguistic philosopher Austin (1962) and developed by Searle (1969), another philosopher Their theory was mainly about the locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary acts whereas illocutionary act is central to the concept of a speech act These acts are widely accepted as the act of promising, ordering and bequeathing
In the example above, the utterance “The grass is growing fast in the garden” can be considered an indirect speech act because it carries the function of the request Similarly, the reply “I have a group study” is also an indirect speech act to reject proposal This is indirect because the literal meaning of “I have a group study” does not entail any sort of rejection.
Speech act and the act of ordering
Speech acts have been studied and defined by different linguists such as Austin (1962), Grice (1957, 1975), Hymes (1964), Searle (1969), Levinson (1983), Brown and Yule (1983) and others The common in their theory is “a speech act is an act that a speaker performs when making an utterance” Then it is best described as “in saying something, we do something” According to Austin, speech acts are divided into five types and three dimensions Below is his theory about the three dimensions of speech acts
- A locutionary act is the saying of something which is meaningful and can be understood
- To perform a locutionary act is to produce an utterance with a particular form and a more or less determinate meaning according to the rules of a given language
- An illocutionary act is any speech act that amounts to stating, questioning, commanding, and promising and so on
- It is an act performed in saying something, as contrasted with a locutionary act, the act of saying something, the locution In short, an illocutionary act is using a sentence to perform a function
- The perlocutionary carried out by a speaker making an utterance is the act of causing a certain effect on the hearer and others In others words, a perlocutionary act is the results or effects that are produced by means of saying something
1.2.1.1 Types of speech acts (Austin, 1962; Searle, 1969)
According to Austin (1962), there are five types of speech acts as follows:
(1) Verdictives: such as acquit, grade, estimate, diagnose, predict, interpret
(2) Exercitives: such as appoint, order, advise, warn, instruct, promote
(3) Commisives: such as promise, guarantee, bet, oppose, ensure, pledge
(4) Behabitives: apologizes, criticize, bless, challenge, congratulate, thank
(5) Expositives: argue, postulate, affirm, concede, oppose, admit
With the classification mentioned above, there are still mistakes and repetitions For example, the two last types namely “behavitives” and “explositives” are not clear and they are overlapped Therefore, there is a need to suitably divide it again
Austin’s views on language have been enormously influential in many other philosophy and linguists Among them, Searle, one of Austin’s followers, further developed and solved the unclear point in Austin’s classification by dividing it into five types as follows:
(1) Directives : the acts that are to get people to do something They express what the speaker wants such as “commanding”, “requesting”, “inviting”, “forbidding”,
“suggesting” and they can be positive or negative The form to perform this directive functions can be vary from imperative sentences, questions or statement whose illocutionary force is a directive
Why don’t you turn off the light?
There isn’t any sugar left
According to Kreidler (1998), three types of directive utterances can be recognized: commands, requests, and suggestions They are distinguished by the force imposed on hearer For example, a command is effective only if the speaker has some degree of control over the actions of the addressee
E.g.: You must appear in court next Monday at 10 a.m
Commands are produced with various degrees of explicitness which can have the form of You must, imperative sentences or use predicates as command, order, tell
A request is an expression of what speaker wants the addressee to do or refrain from doing something The common request predicates are ask, beg, request…
Suggestions are utterances which cause the hearer to give opinions as to what they should do or should not do Suggestee can have a choice of performances which are advise, recommend, caution, warn…
(2) Commisives : The acts that commit a speaker to do something in the future They express what the speaker intends such as “promising”, “offering”, “threatening”,
E.g.: If you don’t stop fighting, I’ll call the police
I’ll take you to the movies tomorrow
(3) Assertives/ Representatives : the acts that commit a speaker to the truth of expressed proposition such as “describing”, “claiming”, “insisting”, predicting”
Britain has no written constitution
(4) Declaratives : the acts that change the reality via the utterance The speaker has to have a special institutional role, in a specific context in order to perform a declaration appropriately
E.g.: Priest: I now pronounce you husband and wife
Chairman: I declare the meeting open
(5) Expressive : the acts that express speaker’s attitudes and emotions towards the propositions such as “apologizing”, “praising”, “congratulating”, “regretting”
It can be seen that Searle refined Austin’s theory but there are still some differences between these two conceptions Whereas Austin emphasized the conventional interpretation of speech acts, Searle focused on a psychological interpretation (based on belief, intention…) For the aim of my study, I would like to follow Searle’s classification because I realized that most of marine orders are direct speech acts and the acts that cause the hearer to take a particular action This coincides with the category “directives” in Searle’s classification that has been mentioned above
1.2.1.2 Direct and Indirect speech acts
Indirect speech acts is an act which is perform via another act, we say that act is performed indirectly For example in uttering: “Open the window please”, for instance, the speaker has directly requested the hearer to open the window The syntactic structure of this utterance indicates a straight-forward request in English
But the same request can be made in a more tacit, indirect manner to achieve the same result The speaker may say something like “it’s hot in here”, instead of
Indirect speech acts can be performed by different types of structures One of the most common types of indirect speech act in English is interrogative which is not used to ask a question (as we do not expect only answer, we expect an action)
For example, the question “Could you pass the salt?” is normally understood as a request
However, according to Searle, the way in which an utterance is interpreted differs from one person to another even within the same speech community, depending on various factors such as the speaker - hearer role relationship, distance, relative hierarchy or the context of interaction If an utterance is brought into a cross-cultural interactional situation where the interlocutors do not share social and cultural background, cultural conflicts and consequent misinterpretation and misunderstanding are likely to occur
According to International Maritime Organization (IMO), the act of ordering can be defined as any word, phrase, sentence or other expression of speech act marked means of asking for information, making a request, giving intention, expressing advice etc represents what the speaker intends to say or ask
In any conversation, the primary acts can be: accept, acknowledge, agree, answer, apology, call-off, check, confirm, disagree, greeting, evaluate, inform, invite, object, offer, oppose, question, react, reject, reply, request, thank
However, the principle acts in maritime VHF or other spoken communications just focus on the act of question, answer, information, instruction, advice, request, intention, and warning
So, based on classification of Austin and Searle mentioned above, the act of ordering is a type of “directives” or “exercitives” which are the exercising of powers, rights or influence on the hearer It is also called command or ordering sentence
1.2.2.2 Ways of performing the act of ordering
The act of ordering has its own linguistic features to carry the function of an order or a command The most typical features are directness, types of sentence, length and density of technicality which will be discussed in more details below
Literature review
Marine language is quite a broad linguistic area and has not been studied by many linguists Most of the researchers in this field usually cover the teaching occupation or navigation related jobs In Vietnam, three most outstanding studies on marine language are carried by English teachers at VMU
The first study Nautical term-based metaphor by Ngo Thi Nhan (2004) explored the structure experience or image schemata that motivate the formation of metaphor using nautical terms Her study has helped marine students and seafarers stay away from troubles caused by metaphorical meanings when they have to deal with multi-cultural environments all over the world in their work
The second is Analysis of Ship’s Business Letters by Doan Thi Thanh Thuy
(2004) analyzed the speech acts applied in ship’s business letters in English, which plays an important role when writing or reading a letter The results of this study helped students to realize the importance of speech act in ship’s business letter and also suggested some methods for teaching writing ship’s business letter in English
Another research is Elliptical Expressions of Maritime Radiograms in English by Pham Van Don (2002) The primary focus of this study was on the elliptical expressions of marine radiograms in English and the researcher of this study wished to make use of all the findings on elliptical expressions to ease the learning and the teaching radiograms in English at VIMARU
As it can be seen clearly, there is surely no previous studies in marine orders in terms of speech act, which has received my attention for its importance to students at VIMARU as well as seafarers at sea The increasing interest in being able to compose the best solution to students’ problem has heightened my need for further study in this topic.
METHODOLOGY
Research questions
The study is carried out in order to find out the answer to the following questions:
1 What speech act is realized in marine orders?
2 How are directness, types of sentence, length of sentence and the density of technicality realized in maritime orders?
3 What are the differences between orders used on – board and in external communications in terms of speech act and some linguistic features such as categories, directness, types of sentences, length of sentence and the density of technicality?
The questions above will be answered by analyzing the following aspects of the data collected:
- The speech acts used in orders in external and on board communication phrases
- The linguistic features of the act of ordering realized in orders in external and on board communication phrases (directness, length, types of sentences, and density of technical terms)
- The differences between on – board orders and external orders in terms of these linguistic features
Data
Marine orders appear in most conversations exchanged at sea However, based on the purposes and context of use, they can be divided into two main types: marine orders used in external communications and on board communications
External communications are mainly conversations exchanged between ship – to ship, ship – to – shore or shore – to - ship stations The aim of these conversations is to promote navigational safety, including giving instruction, advice or warning for the vessel Conversations between ships and shore stations commonly exchange messages about emergency situation communications (including distress, urgency and safety) and routine communications (pilot request, tug request ) Due to the limitation of a minor study, only the most frequent and prioritized command sentences in radio communication are collected and analyzed including emergency situations (30 sentences) and routine communication (50 sentences)
On-board communications or face – to – face communications between seafarers in the ship cover a wide range of topics relating to situations at sea
However, the attention of my research is on the orders and commands that are most typical and frequently used namely wheel orders (34 sentences), engine telegraph order (13 sentences), command for mooring (42 sentences), command for anchoring
(11 sentences) and towing orders (10 sentences)
All these orders and commands will be served as the database for further analysis in chapter 3 Data analysis
The data is collected mainly from maritime textbooks, websites and recordings of real-life language use One of the main textbooks is the course material currently used in Navigational Department at VIMAR, the “IMO Standard Marine Communication Phrases” (SMCP) published in 2002 This book was issued by IMO publication and considered to be the official document for not only nautical students but also a requirement for all seafarers when communicating at sea
Besides, there is an useful navigational website which contains standard marine orders for seafarers named mareng.utu.fi/ MarEng is a web-based Maritime English Language Learning Tool which was developed by Leonardo da Vinci program of the European Union All the materials are based on language used in actual situations on board ships, in ports and elsewhere in the shipping chain Therefore, the accuracy and authentication of these materials are totally reliable
Besides, the data also include recordings of marine orders being used in reality, collected by my students and friends who were working on board These audios and videos recorded the situations in which marine orders were delivered to help enhance the accuracy and reliability of my study.
Data analysis
As mentioned in the introduction, the study aims at investigating the act of ordering realized in marine orders in terms of such linguistic features as directness, types of sentence, length of sentence and the density of technicality Also it wishes to find out the differences between orders used on – board and in external communications in relation to those linguistic features Quantitative method was used to serve the first aim and contrastive method was used for the second as illustrated in the following analytical framework
My analytical framework covers the following analytical units:
- Categories of speech acts realized in marine orders used in external and on-board communications
- The directness, types of sentence, length and density of technicality in the orders
- The differences between on board orders and external orders
Four tables were generated to assist in the analyzing process Two tables investigated the categories of speech acts realized in marine orders used in external and on-board communications The other two tables investigated more about the linguistic features of the orders used on-board and in external communications namely directness, types of sentence, length and density of technicality
The differences between on – board orders and external orders were then extracted from the analyses drawn out of the tables.
DATA ANALYSIS
Types of speech acts realized in marine orders
The following two tables show the speech act categories realized in 80 external communication marine orders and 110 on-board communication orders
3.1.1 Types of speech acts realized in orders used in external communications
One of the most typical types of communication at sea is external communications or radio conversations exchanged between ship – to – ship and ship – to – shore stations External communications are of two subtypes: emergencies communications and routine communications Table 1 below illustrates categories of speech acts realized in orders in the two sub-types of external communications:
Table 1: Speech acts used in external communications
According to the data in the table, the type of speech acts realized in orders used in external communications is directives It is comprehensible as due to the theory of speech act, directives is the act of getting people to do something This coincides with the act of ordering in navigation also used to give advice, direction, request, suggestions…
In communication between ship and coast station, it is always the ship that asks for assistance when approaching near the coast or when she is in trouble The coast station in turn will give instruction, advice and warning for the ship to add navigational safety The conversations exchanged must strictly follow the rules of IMO Standard Marine Communication Phrases Before the message, there must be a message marker to signal and introduce the purpose and content of the messages communicated There are eight message markers that have been mentioned in chapter 1 but for orders and commands, we commonly use REQUEST, INTENTION, INTRUCTION, ADVICE, and WARNING All these orders can be seen in Appendix 1 The most outstanding orders are taken as examples:
REQUEST: Immediate tug assistance ADVICE: Stand by on channel 6-8 INSTRUCTION: You must alter course WARNING: Obstruction in the fairway Do not overtake
From the examples above, it can be seen that whether the sentence type is imperative (positive and negative) or declarative and used with different message makers, the common illocutionary is to make people to do something, which is directives in their speech act
3.1.2 Types of speech acts realized in orders used in on-board communications
On board communications are conversations exchanged directly between seafarers in the ship When operating the vessel, it is the captain that takes responsibility for all commands and orders on board There are five types of orders on board that ensure vessel run smoothly: wheel orders, engine telegraph orders, command for mooring, and command for anchoring and towing orders 110 orders of these types are selected based on their functions when handling the ships
Therefore, the number of orders and commands of each type is different
The table below shows the categories of speech acts realized in each types of ordering
Table 2: Types of speech acts used in orders in on-board communications
Similar to orders used in external communications, the type of speech acts realized in all orders used on board is directives However, while external orders can have various forms like direction, advice, suggestion…, orders used in on-board communications just want to impose force on the hearer Besides, there is an important rule that all these orders given should be repeated by the hearer For example, in wheel orders, if the officer of the watch shouts “Midship”, the helmsman must repeat “Midship, sir” to inform that he has already received correct information of the order After the rudder has been held in the fore and aft position, the helmsman repeats once again “Midship now, sir” to report the officer of the watch that the order has been carried out correctly and immediately Besides, there are some more examples of each type:
- Full speech ahead! (Engine telegraph order)
- Have the fenders ready! (Command for mooring)
- Get both anchor ready! (Command for anchoring)
- Come along side (Towing orders)
Linguistic features of marine orders used in external communications and on-
A study by Trenker (2007) revealed that the standard of English of seafarers is one of the two main causes of accidents and incidents at sea and in port
Therefore, to ensure the effectiveness, maritime language, especially language of ordering and commanding must have their own linguistic features to have the best impacts on the hearer or doer so that the hearer will carry the future action properly
The important factors contribute to the effectiveness of ordering including directness, types of sentences, length, and density of technical terms are analyzed in the following sections
3.2.1 Linguistic features of marine orders in external communications
Among the types of communications at sea, radiotelephony is the most popular to exchange information between various points at sea or shore, i.e ship – to – ship and ship – to – shore communication To avoid any misunderstanding, safety communications must use simple and clear language In order to study how safe and efficient of maritime English, 80 marine orders used in radiotelephony will be analyzed in terms of directness, length, types of sentences and density of technical terms
Table 3: Linguistic features of marine orders used in external communications
As mentioned in chapter 1, people tend to use indirect speech acts mainly in connection with politeness One of the most common types of indirect speech acts in English is interrogative (“Can you?”, “Could you?”, “Would you?”) Similarly, navigational language sometimes use question “Can you?”, “Could you?” to make a polite request Nevertheless, this type of indirect speech act takes up a small proposition, about 7.5% and only appears in routine communications In addition, the messages are always proceeded by a message marker to clearly indicate the speaker’s intention Meanwhile, in routine communication, the application of this rule is optional The reason is routine communications mainly concern with stress- free situation like ship handling operations, cargo operations, navigation, pilotage, etc Therefore, sometimes people can use indirect questions to show speaker’s politeness This can be found in some communications between ship and shore station when the ship asking for permission to berth:
“Could you spell me your vessel’s name, please?”
“Can you sail to distress position?”
However, the frequency of using is very limited to eliminate the misunderstanding in conversations
As it can be seen from the data in the table, 78.8% of marine orders are realized in the form of imperative sentences According to Searle, the directive function may be realized by a wide range of forms like imperative sentences, questions or statement, however, imperative is still the most common type Therefore, command sentence is also called imperative sentence The benefit of using this form is direct and clear which focus on the action of sentence The structure of imperative sentence always begins with the base form of a verb as in the following examples:
- INSTRUCTION: Do not cross the fairway
(orders in emergency situation- Appendix 1)
- Stand by the pilot ladder
(orders in routine communications- Appendix 1)
In some cases, people also use declarative sentences (in form) to make requests
Actually, this is the full form of imperative sentences in which the understood subject “you” is manifested This type of structure can be found in six orders in both emergency and routine communications:
- ADVICE: You must keep clear from the dredge
- You must rig another pilot ladder
- You have permission to enter the traffic lane Especially, there are few orders omitting the main verb, the imperative force realized by just a noun phrase:
- Wide berth requested These orders are acceptable and understood as the performative verb now changed into noun In addition, the messages are made clear as they are preceded by message markers However, for safety reason, the use of this form is also limited
Concerning with the interrogative form, there are only 6 questions among 80 imperative sentences This coincides with the form of indirect speech acts that has been mentioned above This limited use of indirect speech acts is originated from the rules of IMO Standard Marine Communication Phrases (SMCP) According to
IMO SMCP, model verb is considered to be ambiguous words which may cause misunderstanding For instance, can/could describes either possibility or the capability of doing something Therefore, instead of saying “Can you send me immediate assistance?”, it is advisable to say:
Another feature that makes marine orders typical is the existence of technical words As Maritime English is a type of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), technical terms can be found in the majority of orders analyzed Within three groups of technical words, density, ranging from spare (no words), medium (1-2 words) to crowded (at least 3 words), the second group is outnumbered with 61% and nearly as twice as the first group (36%) The orders with three technical terms as in sentence “Rig pilot ladder on portside 2 metres above water” are rarely used and only take up 3%
Last but not least, an important factor that ensures the effectiveness of communication is the length of orders In a multi-cultural environment, beside a clear and concise pronunciation, the length of sentences should not be too long or too short The medium of words contained in an order should range about four to six words It is the most suitable length to carry sufficient amount of information and can be found in 60% of marine orders used in external communications
Moreover, depending on the context, sometimes the length of these orders can be changed In routine communication, people tend to use longer orders (more than 7 words) while in stressful situations, the short and simple orders (1-3 words) are preferable This analysis can be illustrated by the examples below:
- Request telephone call connection (four words)
- Report injured persons (three words)
- Keep minimum passing distance of five cables when passing her (more than 7 words)
3.2.2 Linguistic features of marine orders in on-board communications
Unlike external communication which messages exchanged by radiotelephony, on – board communication is face – to – face conversations between seafarers at sea Therefore, in different contexts, orders used on – board have different linguistic features which are shown in the table below
Table 4: Linguistic features of marine orders used in on-board communications
From the data in the table, it can be seen that when communicating on board, people always give orders in a direct way This is comprehensible as navigational environment is somehow similar to the army where people are ranked by hierarchy
Therefore, only people with authority have rights to give orders Besides, the commander cannot make any change to the standard commands or orders under no circumstances In other words, there is not any creation in the way of making orders on board as it is related to the safety of everyone For example, as guided in IMO SCMP (page 66), when the officer of the watch requires a course to be steered by compass, the direction in which s/he wants the wheel turned should be stated followed by each numeral said separately, including zero “Port, steer zero eight two” On receiving an order to steer, the helmsman is steady on the course ordered, and is to call out “Steady on zero eight two” The person giving the order should acknowledge the helmsman’s reply to ensure his order was carried correctly and immediately
As orders on board are always given directly, all sentences to realize these orders are imperatives However, many orders omit all predicates and unnecessary words to become special simple sentences containing just one or two phrases like
“Amidships”, “Steady”, “Port 5” These kinds of omitted sentences can be found a lot in wheel orders
Comparison between orders used in external and on-board communications
Whether used in external or on – board communications, marine orders share the basic common linguistic features of Maritime English By analyzing 190 marine orders and commands, it can be inferred that the grammatical, lexical and idiomatic varieties are reduced to a tolerable minimum, using standardized structures for the sake of its function aspects In other words, this simplified version aims at reducing misunderstanding in safety related verbal communications, thereby endeavoring to reflect present maritime English language usage on board vessels and in ship – to – shore/ ship – to – ship communications However, these are only the general comments on the features of marine orders The section below will further analyze the similarities and differences between orders used in external and on – board communications in terms of speech acts categories and linguistic features
As mentioned earlier in chapter 1, the notion of orders and commands totally coincide with the language function of directives - one of five types of speech acts categories by Searle Therefore, there is no doubt that directives category is realized in all marine orders used both in external and on – board communications Based on the data analysis above, the result can be shown clearly in the following chart
External communications On-board communications
Three kinds of directive utterances Kreidler (1998) can be recognized: commands, requests and suggestions They are distinguished by the degree of force imposed on the hearer This theory totally coincides with the illocutionary force of marine orders used on board and in radio communications In radio communications, these three kinds of directive utterances are made explicit by using message markers preceding the messages desired to exchange Depending on the speaker’s assessment of the situation, the markers for ordering can be: REQUEST, INSTRUCTION, WARNING, and ADVICE Based on the definition of the three kinds of directives utterances, it can be seen that the marker ADVICE, WARNING and INSTRUCTION belong to suggestion category as they are utterances which causes the hearers to give opinions to what they should do or should not do
Meanwhile, on board orders are mainly commands as the speaker has some degree of control over the actions of the addressee Even though the predicates as require, order, demand…are omitted, these commands are explicit as they are all performed by imperative sentences
In general, the linguistic features of external and on – board orders are similar as they are used in broad area: navigation However, as being used in different contexts and with different purposes, the language use of each type is typical and distinguishable The study focuses on analyzing language used in terms of directness, types of sentences, length of sentence and density of technical words
The details of each type have been shown earlier The most outstanding categories namely directness, types of sentences (imperatives), length (4-6 words) and density of technical words (1-2 words) which are shown in the table below:
In terms of directness, nearly all orders used in external and on – board are given directly as one of the key point of maritime language is avoid ambiguous words Although they are direct orders, the way to perform each type is different In external communication, in order to especially facilitate ship – to – ship and ship – increase the probability of the purpose of the message being properly understood
The message markers of commands or orders include INSTRUCTION, ADVICE, WARNING and REQUEST The IMO VTS Guidelines recommends that the message marker is spoken preceding the message or the corresponding part of the message The use of these message makers is at the discretion of the shore personnel or the ship’s officer to assess the situation, therefore, in some cases, he/she can use indirect request by the form of interrogatives “Can you”, “Could you” However, this is unadvisable by IMO SMCP as it may cause misunderstanding
While external communications use message markers to avoid confusion and error, on-board orders make the message clear by using all imperative sentences As a result, all commands and orders for ship operation are always given directly by imperative sentences In addition, to make sure that the message is perceived correctly, the receiver must repeat the order again
Another key point to eliminate the unclear point in the message is the using of block language Therefore, all function words, synonyms and modality is avoided or omitted Hence, IMO SMCP suggests many short simple sentences to give orders or commands on board For instance, the standard wheel orders can be “Midships”,
“Steady”, “Port 5”, “Full ahead”, “Ease”…That is the reason why on – board orders are much shorter than external orders The result of data analysis also reveal that more than half of on – board orders are simple sentences which range from one to three words, while in external communication, the orders with from four to six words take up 68%
Although the sentences are very short, the density of technical terms in on – board orders is greater than in external orders 90% of orders on board contain technical words while communication by radiotelephony just accounts for 64% As a result, the orders on board with one to two terms or even three terms are much more than external ones.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
Findings
As presented in the data analysis chapter, by analyzing 190 marine orders used in different contexts, it can be concluded that the type of speech acts realized in all marine orders is directives However, there are slight differences in categorizing on – board orders and external orders into three types of directive utterances: commands, requests and suggestions Based on the definition and predicates of each type, it can be seen that while external orders are mainly suggestions, on- board orders are commands and requests as the speaker has some degree of control over the actions of the addressee and wants the addressee to do or refrain from doing Although in many cases, predicates are omitted, all these orders are made explicit
4.1.2 Linguistic features of marine orders
As orders used on board and in external communications are explicit, nearly all of these orders are given directly Only in situations without pressure of time or psychological stress like routine communications between ship and shore, the speaker can use indirectness to make polite requests However, this indirect speech act is just limited in the form of interrogative sentence which normally starting with
“Can you”, “Could you” The main reason is that Maritime English always tries to reduce misunderstanding in communications which may cause incidents and accidents
Another feature that makes marine order clear and concise is the length of sentence According to IMO SMCP, the important rule that is applied in all sentences is providing one phrase for one event This also helps reduce the sentence length Therefore, the majority orders and commands just contain from four to six words Long orders with more than seven words are rarely found in any cases
Although the orders are very simple short sentences, nearly all of them contain technical words About two-third of marine orders have at least one terminology in each sentence The use of block language permits to reduce all unnecessary words to a tolerable minimum and keep only content and meaningful words Therefore, the words in marine orders are made as densely as possible which mainly contains terms relating to navigational areas
4.1.3 Orders used in external communications and on-board communications
Generally, on board orders and external orders are quite similar in terms of speech act categories, directness, types of sentences, length and density of technical terms As these marine orders are used at sea, they must be always clear and concise to ensure the safety and security of the ship, its crew and its passengers However, as being used in different context, on – board and external orders have different way to enhance the effectiveness in communications While communication by radiotelephony, people clearly inform his/her intentions by message markers, on – board orders, on the other hand, using short and simple imperative sentences As the context of giving order is out-door which may be distracted by sound of engine, wave, wind…, to ensure the accuracy, the addressee must repeat the message again
Besides, on-board orders omit all predicates, with just content words remaining to make the sentences much shorter than orders used in external communications.
Discussions
According to the International Regulations for Preventing Collision at Sea, language used must be relevant with situations Therefore, the result of directive speech act realized in all 190 marine orders in this study is totally comprehensible and meet the requirements of the regulations Although the orders can be performed by different ways, they all reach the purpose of making somebody to do something
The majority of performance is by imperative sentences as orders normally made by authority people, for instance, orders of captain, the chief officer…on crew members
4.2.2 Linguistic features of marine orders
All linguistic features of marine orders, namely directness, types of sentences, length, and density of nautical terms support to make the orders clear, concise and unambiguous As working in a multi-national environment, a simplified and standard language is necessary to reduce misunderstanding and error However, depending on the contexts, these features can change slightly to adapt themselves with the situations For instance, orders in emergencies are rather different from orders in routine communications as in under pressure of time and psychology stress, people act differently Therefore, in routine communication, people tend to use longer and more complicated orders
4.2.3 Orders used in external communications and on-board communications
External and on-board communications are two different types of conversations at sea While external orders are exchanged by radiotelephony, on- board orders are given directly between seafarers This is the main reason leading to the different linguistic features of each type Besides, on – board orders are mainly directions for ship operation, therefore, they include many specialized vocabulary for equipments on board, course, position…Meanwhile, radio communication concerns with broadcasts of meteorological forecasts and aids to navigation information as well as reporting incidents and accidents on boards As a result, external orders tend to be longer but less nautical terms
Conclusions
Effective maritime communication is very important as the cost of communication breakdown can be damage to property, to the environment or loss of life Investigation into the human factors regarding disasters at sea, which focused on communication behavior (Trenker, 2007) revealed that one third of accidents happen primary due to insufficient command of maritime English
Therefore, there is a need for a comprehensive and effective marine order system that used in radio communications and face – to – face communication on board ship In 1995, International Maritime Organization (IMO) officially adopted English as the language at sea and in 2001 introduced Standard Maritime Communication Phrases (SMCP) which contained standard marine orders By analyzing 190 marine orders that are most frequently used in external and on – board communications, this research has unveiled the effectiveness as well as conciseness in language of ordering at sea Meanwhile, two research questions have been answered reasonably as follows:
- The effectiveness of marine orders is realized through some criteria: speech acts categories, directness, length of sentences, types of sentences and density of nautical terms The common feature of marine orders analyzed in this research is that they all follow the standard of IMO SMCP which makes the orders themselves explicit and direct The standard form of direct orders is imperative sentences that can be found in almost every marine order Furthermore, spoken marine orders appears to be characterized by a rather authoritative tone, achieved through the use of formal, Latin-based words and phrases and the general avoidance of politeness formulas in the imperative Therefore, it is rarely to see politeness marker as Please,
Can you, Could you…in these marine orders Indeed, the verb “Can, Could” is considered to be poly-semantic words which expresses both ability and permission
Hence, in order to minimize misunderstandings, this type of words is avoided
Furthermore, spoken marine orders is undoubtedly subject to a widespread standardization of constructions, often resulting from omission of semantically less prominent sentences elements Therefore, the order sentence is not very long The average length is from four to six words which mainly contain nautical terms
- On board and external orders generally have the similar characteristics but have different ways to maintain the effectiveness in communication Since confusion and misunderstanding in external communication or non face – to – face conversations are likely to occur, it is important for interlocutors to use message markers before the intended messages The need for a clear indication of intended messages is required by the abundant use of imperative form, typically associated to different pragmatic functions, such as advising, requesting, ordering and so forth
Meanwhile, on board orders use a block language with very short simple sentences to avoid ambiguous and misunderstanding in communications
In addition, the research has also discussed the necessity of applying standard marine orders at sea and in teaching nautical terms Therefore, there are some implications for teaching these marine orders effectively.
Implications
2.1 The act of ordering realized in marine orders
By critically analyzing 190 marine orders used in different contexts, it can been concluded that these marine orders are totally clear and concise to maintain an effective communication at sea Therefore, the use of these standard phrases should be encouraged by both seafarers and nautical teachers Nowadays, a large number of ships are manned by multinational crews; the use of a common standard language will not only dismiss the language barrier but also ensure the safety of the voyage
Therefore, when sailing or handling ships, it is necessary for seafarers to memorize these standard marine orders so that when emergencies occur, with the pressure of time and stress, the seafarers can recall the orders correctly Nautical teachers, on the other hands, should closely rely on these standards marine orders to train their students The task of the teacher is to create sufficient opportunities for learning to take place In addition, regular oral communications are practised with other topics such as preventing marine pollution, manning and regulation of shipping, safety and emergency procedures, security at sea…so that the students can make orders accurately and precisely due to the standard of IMO SMCP
2.2 Orders used in external communications and on-board communications
Communications on board and between ship – to – ship or ship – to - shore have some slight differences, so when teaching marine orders used in these contexts, teachers should pay attention to the language features of each type As Maritime English is a product of life on the ocean itself, teachers can set up real-life stimulations for their students to practice commutations This method not only enhances student’s motivation and understanding through communication on meaningful topics but also help them imagine the real life working environment in future
Meanwhile, the seafarers must strictly follow the rules set by IMO SMCP when communicating by radiotelephony Besides, to function effectively during routine shipboard operations, all crew need to know the exact terminology of vessel’s equipment, its usage and safe handling that appear a lot in marine orders used on board.
Limitations of the study
For any research, limitations are inevitable and of course my research is not an exception In the data collection of the research, it is really regretful for me not to cover all marine orders used in other contexts such as cargo handling and passenger care which also contain typical features of Maritime English.
Suggestions for further study
My research is expected to be a useful material in both theory and practice
Theoretically, the research deeply investigates the field of speech acts as well as language of ordering in marine orders Up till now, many researches on Maritime English have been carried out whereas language of ordering applied in marine orders is really new and strange Practically, the study encourages the use of standard marine orders in conversations between seafarers at sea and in navigational training Hopefully, people who are really interested in the field of speech acts and marine orders would find my research as an important and necessary material From what the research has gained, I would like to make suggestions for further research regarding the other linguistic features of Maritime languages like simple sentences in marine orders, substitution of language by using flag or transaction of part of speech in shipping
1 Austin J.L (1962) How to do things with words Oxford University Press
2 Bobrovski, V.I Business English for Seamen (Nghiệp vụ Hàng hải, translated by Lê Đình Ngà) Vietnam Maritime University Publishing House
3 Brown G and Yule G Discourse analysis Cambridge University Press
4 Goergakopoulou, A & Goutsos, D (2004) Discoures Analysis Edinburgh
5 Hoa, N (2004) Understanding English Semantics Hanoi VNU Publishing
6 Kreidler, W (1998) Introduce English Semantics Routledge Taylor &
7 Leech G N (1983) Principles of Pragmatics, Longman Pearson Education
8 Nunan, D (1993) Discourse Analysis Penguin English
9 Searle J.R (1969) Speech acts: An Essay in the philosophy of language
10 Pritchard, B (2003) Maritime Communications and IMO SMCP 2001
11 Thuy, D.T.T (2004) Analysis of Ship’s Business Letter PhD Thesis
12 Thomas J (1995) Meaning in interaction: An introduce to pragmatics
13 Valeria, A (2006) Maritime English valuing a common language Nautical Institute of Great Britain
14 Winbow, A (2002) “The importance of effective communication”
International Seminar on Maritime English, Turkey 2002
15 Widdowson H.G (2007) Discouse Analysis (Oxford introduction to language study) Oxford University Press
16 IMO Standard Marine Communication Phrases 2002 International Maritime
Online Source: http://www.smcpexamples.com/ http://www.dieukhientaubien.net/ http://mareng.utu.fi/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_act http://qp04ds6.blogspot.com/2009/05/ships-orders-and-commands.html http://www.he-alert.org/filemanager/root/site_assets/standalone_article_pdfs_0605- /he00845.pdf https://www.academia.edu/5048335/Indirect_Speech_Acts_in_English http://www.imo.org/blast/blastDataHelper.asp?data_id000&filename=Internatio nalSeminar.pdf http://www.he-alert.org/filemanager/root/site_assets/standalone_article_pdfs_0605-/HE00620.pdf
APPENDIX 1 COMMANDS AND ORDERS IN EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
3 REQUEST Immediate assistance/ I require a tug
5 REQUEST MV SEADOG requires escort
7 REQUEST: Permission to enter the Fairway
9 REQUEST Assist with search vicinity of position
10 REQUEST I require fire fighting assistance
11 INSTRUCTION Stop your engines immediately
12 INSTRUCTION Stay where you are Wait for tug to arrive
13 INSTRUCTION You must close up on the vessel ahead of you
14 INSTRUCTION Stop your engine immediately
15 INSTRUCTION Cary out radar search
17 ADVICE You may stop search and proceed with voyage
18 ADVICE (Advise you) stand by on VHF channel six nine
21 ADVICE Keep minimum passing distance of five cables when passing her
22 ADVICE Recommend you alter course to 125 degrees True
24 ADVICE Stand by for giving instruction
25 ADVICE You must keep clear from the dredge
26 ADVICE Alter course to port/starboard side
28 WARNING Do not enter Traffic Lane
29 WARNING Vessel must avoid this area
1 ADVICE Stand by on channel 6-8
2 INSTRUCTION You must anchor in different position
3 REQUEST Please give instructions to reach Soumenlinna
4 INSTRUCTION You cannot enter the channel Wait until
6 ADVICE Steer course: 2-53-3 degrees true
7 Please call me again beam of Delta Bravo 17
8 Can you see the name of the vessel on your starboard side?
10 Could you take one passenger pilot up to Brunsmittel?
11 Could you spell me your vessel’s name, please?
12 Please pass on my starboard side
13 You can keep coming in until you get close to the buoy
14 WARNING Fishing are prohibited 3 miles around this position
16 Can you throw cargo overboard to refloat?
17 Can you sail to distress position?
18 Can you control major flow of water into vessel?
20 Change the radar to miles range scale
21 Stand by for cutting the manila lashing if requested
22 Rig the pilot ladder on port side/ starboard side/ leeside
23 You must rig another pilot ladder
24 Move/Stand by the pilot ladder
25 REQUEST Correct the list of the vessel
26 Keep the sea on your port quarter/ starboard quarter
27 ADVICE Steer 25 degrees to make a lee
28 INSTRUCTION Go ahead and follow me
29 WARNING Do not follow me
31 INSTRUCTION Stop in present position
32 INSTRUCTION Go to berth No.15
33 ADVICE Make lee on your port/starboard side
34 You must heave up anchor
38 REQUEST Repeat your position for identification
39 Advise you change to larger range scale
41 INSTRUCTION You must anchor at 14:00 UTC
42 INSTRUCTION You must heave up anchor
43 ADVICE Keep pilot boat on port/starboard side
44 INSTRUCTION You have permission to enter the traffic lane
45 ADVICE Stop in present position Wait for pilot
46 ADVICE Rig pilot ladder on portside 2 metres above water
47 Advise you keep present course
50 INSTRUCTION Move ahead/ astern 3 metres
COMMANDS AND ORDERS IN ON-BOARD COMMUNICATIONS
2 More starboard (port)/ Starboard (Port) little more
5 Little bit a starboard (port)/ Starboard (port) handsomely!
6 Starboard (port) five/ ten/ twenty/ five to port
10 Meet her !/ Meet (check) the helm !
11 Steady!/ Steady as she goes !/ Steady so! / Right so !/ Steady this course
12 Shift the helm to starboard (port) !
15 Change from auto pilot to hand steering
20 Steer for that light (buoy)!
22 Leave the red buoy on the starboard (port) side!
26 Keep straight to the lighthouse
27 Keep to middle of channel
30 Keep the buoy on port/starboard side
33 Finish with the wheel/ engine No more steering
34 Report if she does not answer the wheel
6 Stop !/ Stop her !/Stop the engine !
2 Give on shore (ashore) the heaving line!
4 Fenders on the starboard (port) side !
6 Run out the head (bow) rope (stern rope) !
7 Send on shore the bow (stern) spring !
8 Slack away (pay away) the bow (stern) spring !
12 Check your head rope (stern rope) !
13 Check her on the spring !
14 Haul in (pick up) the slack !
15 Heave way (in) the head rope !
18 Tie her up like that !
21 Let go the spring rope (the head, stern rope) !
22 Heave away (in) the head rope
24 Lower (heave up) the ladder !
25 Hoist (haul down) the flag !
26 Double up fore and aft !
27 Heave away (in) the tow rope
28 Give her a short kick ahead/ astern
29 We must make fast stern to !
30 Heave in the port (starboard) anchor chain !
31 Cant the stern (the bow) off the pier !
32 Get in the bow (stern) !
33 Send on shore the forward breast line !
34 Check the aft breast line !
35 Avast heaving in (on) the cable !
38 Pay away some more chain
39 Put out (veer out, slack away) the towing hawser
42 Give out two lies, one from each side
1 Get the starboard (port) anchor ready !
3 Let go (drop) the starboard (port) anchor !
5 Veer out the anchor to the bottom !
6 Slack away (pay away) the chain (cable) !
7 Slack away(pay away)two(three etc)shackles of the chain!
8 Pay away some more chain !
10 Make fast (secure) the chain !
2 Pass (give) the tow line(the heaving line) to the tugboat