Developing Effective English Language Teaching Tools for the Mariners

This paper focused upon the challenges faced by the teachers of English while preparing and selecting teaching material for the students of professional training institutes. The students under consideration were trainee marine engineers from maritime training institute studying “Technical Report Writing”. There is no prescribed textbook and reference books available are generic as the need of the shipping industry is very limited. The main challenges faced by the teachers are motivation, unavailability of materials, course duration, the influence of SMS language, support from other departments in engineering institutes and a mixed class of students. However, every problem has a solution and as teachers of English, we can use case studies and analyze the same in all respects, use videos for developing writing skills (reports, letters, notices, etc.), use the specific terminology, plan activities like debates, panel discussions, presentations, etc. Thus, appropriate teaching material can help the teachers to face these challenges.