当代航海家口述史与航运语言政策研究

Study on Contemporary Navigators’ Oral History and Maritime Language Policy

摘要: 当代全球航运业高度国际化，船员来自多语言文化背景，航运语言政策(尤其海事英语推广)深刻影响航海实践和海员的职业发展。本研究以社会语言学和全球化理论为框架，结合航海者口述史访谈和政策文本分析，考察航运业中航海人员的语言使用情况及语言政策的演变与影响。研究发现：第一，资深航海者的口述史强调英语作为通用语对海上安全和跨文化交流至关重要，但也揭示词汇、口音、文化差异仍给沟通带来障碍。第二，国际航运语言政策由无序走向规范，IMO确立海事英语为标准通信语言(制定SMCP等)，提升了航行安全，也对非英语国家海员的培训提出更高要求。然而，政策执行与实际存在落差：尽管法规要求使用英语标准用语，但各国培训不平衡导致船员英语能力参差不齐，沟通不当仍引发事故。第三，针对多语言船员的挑战，业界加强海事英语培训，编制标准术语手册，营造包容的船舶语言环境。本研究丰富了航海口述史与语言政策交叉领域文献，强调以人为本的政策制定。建议未来结合更多实证研究和航海者叙事，不断完善航运语言政策，以更好地促进海员的职业发展并确保航运安全。

Abstract: The global maritime industry is highly international, with seafarers from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Maritime language policy (particularly the promotion of Maritime English) has significantly influenced seafaring practice and seafarers’ career development. Using sociolinguistics and globalization theory as a framework, this study combines oral history interviews with navigators and policy document analysis to examine language use of navigators in the shipping industry and the evolution and impact of language policy. The findings indicate: First, senior mariners’ narratives highlight the critical role of English as a lingua franca for safety at sea and cross-cultural communication, but also reveal persistent challenges such as vocabulary gaps, accents, and cultural nuances that hinder understanding. Second, international maritime language policy has evolved from an ad-hoc approach to a standardized framework: the IMO established Maritime English as the standard communication language (e.g. adoption of SMCP), improving navigational safety, but also imposing higher training requirements on seafarers from non-English-speaking nations. However, there remains a gap between policy and practice: despite regulations mandating standard English phrases, uneven training across countries means crews’ English proficiency varies, and miscommunication is still a contributing factor in incidents. Third, to address the challenges of multilingual crews, the industry has intensified Maritime English training, developed standardized phrase books, and fostered an inclusive onboard language environment. This research enriches the literature at the intersection of seafaring oral history and language policy, underlining the importance of human-centered policy-making. It suggests that future efforts, supported by further empirical research and seafarer narratives, should continue to refine maritime language policies to better promote seafarers’ professional development and ensure safety at sea.