On the Role of Phonetics in an ESP Course: an experience presented by students, por Susana Chiatti, Claudio Alé y Gustavo Alvarez

Susana L. Chiatti is the holder of the chairs of English Phonetics and Phonology I and II at the Teacher Training College of the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. She is also a researcher and has written articles for specialized journals. She is a member of the Education and Cultural Studies Research Group (GIEEC) created in 2005.

Communication has always been a major problem for mariners. Ships need to be able to contact each other and yet the nature of shipping has always made this difficult. For centuries the human voice was the only method available. To overcome this difficulty signal flags and lights have been used and today the introduction of radio has solved many of the earlier difficulties.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) began working on this problem and following an initiative taken by the United Kingdom Institute of Navigation, adopted in November 1977, a Standard Marine Navigational Vocabulary which, it is hoped, will help overcome the age-old barrier of language.

The vocabulary consists of a number of simplified, standard and precise phrases in English based on phonetics which enable mariners of different nationalities to communicate with each other more easily than in the past.

The purpose of this talk is to present an in progress- phonetics course that may be useful for ESP teachers showing activities used in Mar del Plata at Escuela Nacional de Pesca "Comandante Luis Piedra Buena ".
This course was designed to provide a stepping - stone to enable seamen who are studying for professional qualifications at this school handle with accurate pronunciation the vocabulary they will need in their particular area of study: on board ship and throughout the world where the medium of English is used.