Multiliteracy Pedagogy and Critical Literacy Formation in Sea Transportation Communication Training

Abstract

Vocational sea transportation programs continue to treat communicative competence as a matter of vocabulary accuracy and phraseology recall, an approach that leaves cadets unprepared for the interpretive demands of multinational crew environments. This study investigates how multiliteracy pedagogy shapes critical literacy development among cadets training for sea transportation communication in English. Using a qualitative design, the research draws on data from 72 cadets across Amanjaya Maritime Institute, Djadayat Maritime Institute, and Malahayati Sea Transportation Institute, applying thematic analysis, cross-group comparison, and narrative synthesis to interpret cadet and instructor perspectives. Findings show that authentic materials, task-based activities, and critical analysis exercises jointly produce literacy gains that conventional instruction does not reach, particularly in cadets' capacity to question institutional authority embedded in communication protocols and to adapt register across cultural contexts. The study identifies empowerment of professionalism as the central outcome, positioning multiliteracy pedagogy as a mechanism for workforce readiness rather than a supplementary language exercise. The research contributes a contextually grounded account of multiliteracy pedagogy within Indonesian maritime vocational education and offers a basis for curriculum reform across comparable institutions.