Navigating Technical Communication Barriers: Maritime English Proficiency Among Engine Room Cadets in Multicultural Training Environments

The global maritime industry operates within a complex multilingual environment in which English functions as the dominant medium of professional communication. In engine rooms — where technical precision and operational safety are paramount — communication failures among multinational crews have been repeatedly identified as contributing factors in maritime incidents. This study investigates Maritime English proficiency among engine room cadets from South Korea, the Philippines, and Indonesia through an ethnographic multi-case design. Using structured observation, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and cross-group comparison, the study examines how language barriers manifest in technical machinery contexts and how instructional environments shape cadets' communicative competencies. Findings reveal that Filipino cadets demonstrate comparatively higher confidence in spoken Maritime English, attributable to English-medium technical instruction, while South Korean and Indonesian cadets face significant lexical and syntactic challenges, particularly in operating manual interpretation and emergency communication protocols. The study contributes a tri-national comparative framework for Maritime English pedagogy and offers evidence-based recommendations for multicultural cadet training programs aligned with STCW Convention requirements.