English for Border Guards by Means of Problem-Based Technology

Abstract

The current study deals with Problem Based Learning technology, its methods and procedure of its implementation into the ESL teaching process. The topicality of the research is grounded on the idea that the majority of universities are aimed at problem-based and research approach towards learning and teaching and there is a fair ground for that. Being a system of methods PBL technology is based on the principles of purposefulness and binarity, with situationally and problematization, connections of theory and practice, consciousness and activity, accessibility and autonomy. The focus of the research was made on essential functions of a problem situation such as communicative, modality-related, cognitive, emotional and volitional, motivational, competency-based etc.
 The key advantages were taken from the unquestioning benefits of the PBL introduction in the ESP class at Bohdan Khmelnytskyi National Academy of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. PBL connects language content to real-life situations. Moreover, situations require not only knowledge but also skills to be used as well as prepare cadets for solving career-related problems that can be replicated in a new context. For that reason, problem situations that model real-career experience have been incorporated into the learning process. To verify PBL expediency in the future border guards learning environment, 45 cadets were involved in the experiment. The practical value of the experiment is supported with the highly improved level of the cadets’ academic performance in PBL class. The average scores in the experimental groups (A1, A2) is 8,63 and 6,7 higher at the final stage of the experiment in comparison with the initial stage. Such outcome gives us ground to implement this experience into a wider audience of instructors and cadets.
 Consequently, the research should be extended, as more attention must be paid to the linguistic career-oriented content of the problem situations.