The study identifies the ESP teaching strategies of the personnel of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGSU) training in the framework of European language standards. According to the results of the needs analysis, the Ukrainian border guards require improving their professional foreign language competence based on the European educational standards and best practices. The main attention is paid to developing listening and speaking skills of border guards. The methodology of the course is aimed at forming the border guards’ foreign-language professional competency, which will facilitate their effective service in the state border protection units. The course program provides border guards with the opportunity to develop the language competence and strategies they need to effectively engage in situations of professional communication that they can have at the border, both while conducting border surveillance activities and border checks.

The article reveals the development of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the foreign languages training of the European Union countries border guards, such as: implementation of the student-centered approach; development of the communicative component of foreign languages training of border guards using ICT; introduction of mobile learning (using of mobile gadgets); the use of augmented, virtual and mixed reality technology. An overview of the possibilities of using augmented, virtual and mixed reality technologies based on the developed by FRONTEX Agency learning tools: An Electronic Training Course (ETC) "English for Personnel of the border crossing points"; ETC on the basis of mobile learning technology (m-learning), English for self-study of EU countries border guards - "English for border guards"; ETC "Training of marine safety specialists on board of a ship" using VR technology; training course on interviewing irregular migrants based on VR technology; interactive program for the first line officers on Schengen law. The content, structure and objectives of the electronic course "Communicative English for Border Guards’ professional use" based on the Virtual Aula web platform has been considered in detail. The training course is an example of an innovative, communicative educational tool for English learning, it is a student-centered, professionally-oriented one and contributes to the development of the professional foreign language competence of the personnel of the border guard authorities. The experience of developing an ETCs for the professional training needs of the border guards in the EU countries provides an opportunity for the specialists in the field of border guards training and education to develop professionally-oriented ETCs according to present-day requirements and common border guard educational standards. Summarizing the responses from the participants of the course shows its effectiveness and students’ motivation to improve their communicative foreign language competence, resulting in their average score increased from 3.92 to 4.11 points.

The paper reports on an innovative approach to evaluate the level of harmonisation of Ukrainian border guards training with the common standards for border guarding in the European Union (EU) member-states. There are different types of borders and different organisational structures in border guard agencies in the EU. The authors present the results of a research aimed at analysing the level of interoperability of Ukrainian border guards. In case of border guards' training, interoperability stands for their level of professional readiness for joint actions with representatives of foreign border guard authorities. For this purpose, the EU border guard agencies under the supervision of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex Agency) introduced the Interoperability Assessment Program (IAP), as the means to assess, first of all, the level of integration of the Common Core Curriculum (CCC) for basic border guards' training into border guard authorities' national curricula. The programme's results provide information on the degree to which the CCC meets the requirements regarding its content. The overall CCC implementation at the NASBGSU was 77.5%, namely: by modules (General Studies -95%; Land Border Module -75%; Air Border Module -81%; Sea Border Module -58,6%); by content (General studies -96%; Legislation -73,9%; Practice -80,8%). The results of the evaluation held at the National Academy of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine named after Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, involving cadets of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Humanities showed that Ukrainian border guards and their system of education and training are in line with the EU member-states' common standards and the Ukrainian border guard agency personnel can be effectively used for the various operational and service activities of protecting different border sectors.

The study aims to analyze the effectiveness of teaching English online to cadets of the border guard educational institutions using learning facilitation techniques in order to enhance the effectiveness of foreign language training of future border guards within the system of distance learning. The research has revealed the peculiarities of organization of online facilitation skills development for the border guard trainers in European Union border guard agencies under the auspices of European Border Guard Agency. The modern online learning facilitation forms, methods and tools used for teaching future border guards English language have been presented. The effectiveness of the acquired by border guard trainers' facilitative skills was tested during an Intensive Online English Language Course for Border Guards at the National Academy of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. Analysis of the results of employing facilitative methods and techniques during the course provide their effectiveness. According to the results, the average score of the participants increased from 3.98 to 4.23. The obtained results testify to the efficiency of the facilitation skills development of the trainers of the Border Guard agencies.

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