A Study Of Language Requirements In The STCW Convention And Maritime English Syllabus Design

English has been regarded as the only acceptable language for communication at sea. The training and education of Maritime English has been attached greater attention over these years.The STCW Convention sets up qualification standards for masters, deck and engineer officers and watching personnel on seagoing ships. As the international legal basis for seafarers'training and education, the standards required in the Convention play an important role for developing national standards of individual government and thus deriving teaching syllabus, content, and materials for seafarers'education. The new version of the STCW Convention is upon completion in March 2010.This paper conducts analysis on the requirements regarding Maritime English for deck and engineering officers in the latest STCW 2010 Convention (draft version) with the aim to examine the minimum standards and other requirements as well as rules and provisions that directly or indirectly require a sound command of Maritime English. Further, this paper studies the assessment standards promulgated by China's Maritime Safety Administration and the study guidelines for seafarers on seagoing vessels in respect of Maritime English. In addition, this paper studies the Maritime English syllabi in Dalian Maritime University according to the English language proficiency and subject knowledge requirements in the STCW 2010 Convention and the domestic standards in China and tries to identify whether there is an alignment among these documents.This paper has findings as follows:the assessment standards of English listening and speaking for seafarers of China are generally in line with the drafted STCW 2010 Convention. The Maritime English syllabi of Dalian Maritime University are generally in conformity with the national and international standards in the language proficiency level and Maritime English subject knowledge level. However, the continuum between Basic English and professional Maritime English is not satisfactory in the present syllabi. Besides, the multi-cultural awareness cultivation is not sufficient. Finally, this paper gives three suggestions on the Maritime English syllabus design, namely, the consistency during the four-year study, the emphasis on student-center approach and the cross-cultural awareness cultivation.