Knowledge of the English language is very important not only for civil but also for the military personnel because there are a lot of changes in defense relations all over the world and English is the operational language. So, we should focus on high quality training of specialists who are able to work not only under standard conditions, but also to solve professional problems. According to the Ukrainian current legislation, one of the professional competences of border guards is to speak in English while accomplishing duties on the state border. So there is a necessity to analyze methods and ways of organizing the educational process of this category. The article reflects the key issues connected with the educational program of border guards; investigates integral, general and professional competencies and program learning outcomes. The main attention is paid to peculiarities of English for Specific Purposes and its aim to form foreign professional communicative competence according to the NATO Standards at the 2nd level. The hypothesis of our article is that the development of the national security masters’ communicative language ability depends on use of up to day learning methods at the English language lessons. The discipline ESP for border guards training includes such themes: “Conceptual bases of politics and public administration in the sphere of national security and defense of Ukraine”, “Border security of Ukraine”, “Border Security of the USA and EU country-members” and “Conceptual bases of politics and public administration in the sphere of national security and defense of the USA and EU country-members”. The organization of the lesson “Land navigation: map reading” has been discussed and its five-stage plan (introduction, input, practice, production, and conclusion) has been investigated. The information obtained from this paper could be of interest for English for Specific Purposes teaching material developers and foreign language instructors.

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have attracted a great deal of interest in recent years as a modern learning technology. This paper examines the issue of developing professional competencies in further training of border guards through MOOCs. Mobile learning, distance education, use of the information technologies have been differentiated. The preparation for lifelong learning is especially important for border guards due to the rapid development of the information technology. Further education helps them counter threats to national security, conflicts and non-standard situations at the border crossing points, and new methods violators use to forge documents, to smuggle goods and to cross the state border. The use of MOOCs for advanced training in the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine has been analyzed. The purpose of the article is to analyze the application of MOOCs for developing professional competencies of border guards. Each MOOC is aimed at developing the Integral competence, General competencies and Professional (special) competencies of border guard officers. The ability to communicate in English is one of the special competencies of border guards, and it is essential for effective protection of the state border. The peculiarities of development of MOOC "Conducting the second line check at border crossing points" for training of border guards who serve in the border guard units and want to be promoted to higher positions have been investigated. The experiment was carried out at the Bohdan Khmelnytskyi National Academy of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and involved 276 border guards. The analysis of the results of the developed distance course testified its effectiveness. The generalization of feedback from the participants in this course also indicated an increase in the motivation of border guards to develop personal professional skills, especially for communication in a foreign language. The results of the study have been further discussed and the practical suggestions for MOOC developers have been outlined.