Sampling Procedure

The Questionnaire with the invitation to participate was distributed within 350 final year undergraduate cadets and students of intensive language training courses of three major Ukrainian higher education institutions that train future officers: National University of Civil Defence of Ukraine, Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Army Academy and Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs. The invitation to participate was sent to 200 staff responsible for foreign languages and special language training, 150 contract servicemen (contractors). Ultimately, the total number of participants involved through questionnaires and interviews is 524 persons: 125 officers, 295 cadets, 104 contract servicemen (contractors).

The percentage of interviewed officers with service up to 10 years was 65.6% (82 people), with service over 10 years - 4.4% (18 people). At the same time, most of the servicemen had more than 10 years of service, namely - 85 people (81.7%) and less than 10 years - 19 people (18.3%) respectively.

Instrument

Participants were given a paper version anonymous Questionnaire written in Ukrainian. The authors implied analysis, systematization, generalization methods to investigate the modern conceptual literature on the research issue, to distinguish the criteria and indicators an officer’s readiness for foreign language professional intercourse in international peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations. The results of observations, interviews and the authors’ Questionnaires (Annex A) were taken into account. The interviews revealed the factors that impact on the formation of cadets’ readiness for foreign language professional intercourse in international peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations. Considerable importance was attached to conversations and interviews with the experienced officers, which allowed to determine the components of readiness, the understanding the importance of knowledge of a foreign language for professional intercourse in international military formations.

The observations helped determine the need for specific training for professional intercourse, to examine the activity of cadets in foreign language learning, other parameters that affect the quality of the academic process and the formation of readiness for foreign language professional intercourse in international peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations.

The method of observation allowed determining the adaptability of future specialists in a foreign language environment, their ability to assess the situation in such an environment, the ability to work in an emotionally rich field, make professional decisions on military management, as well as features of English communication and its importance for tasks as close as possible to military operations.

Data Analytical Procedure

The results of the study were processed by methods of mathematical and statistical data processing. Questionnaire as a method of mass data collection was conducted among officers, professor staff and cadets of universities. The obtained data were subjected to statistical analysis, followed by qualitative interpretation and meaningful generalization.

Theoretical Framework

There is a plethora studies related to multinational communication and intercultural understanding as well as peacekeeping operations (^{RAZAK; NIK; BAKAR; RAMLI, 2018}). The language proficiency of military personnel is the subject of attention of such scholars as ^{ARISTARKHOVA (2019}), ^{CHAUVOT (2010}). ^{MÜLLER (1981}), ^{NICULESCU; OBILISTEANU; DRAGOMIR (2019}), ^{PATEŞAN; ZECHIA (2018}), etc. The English language proficiency (“the NATO prime language of communication” (PATEŞAN; ZECHIA, 2018) and cultural expertise are considered critical capabilities for any military participant in international missions (MÜLLER, 1981).

However, professional intercourse in international operations cannot be considered purely within the knowledge of a foreign language, since this approach levels out the dominant features of human communication, in particular:

Research on readiness for foreign language intercourse is relatively seldom carried out in military organizations, which are hierarchical and formalized (^{LEWINSKA, 2015}).

The current research aims not to “pay lip service to the importance of foreign language capabilities on the battlefield”, but to uncover the issue from the other side, broadening baseline capabilities of servicemen by making greater emphasis not on the language skills, but on their readiness for foreign language professional intercourse in international peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations, which has been traditionally viewed as “a niche meriting limited and episodic attention” (^{OUTZEN, 2012}). The two are of course intimately related and can merely be effectively learned together (OUTZEN, 2012).

Analysis of survey- and interview-based studies of the communicative practices of military community, has revealed that one impediment of modern academic theories and practices represent the lack of a vision or understanding of the essence and structure of readiness for foreign language professional intercourse in international peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations. In this regard, it is coherent that attention should be directed to the criteria, indicators and characteristics of the levels of its formation.

Another impediment is the lack of strategy, methodology and capacity for the training of future officers in higher education establishments. Equally important, training institutions have shown limited interest in evaluating readiness of the trained personnel (^{CUTILLO, 2013}) for foreign language professional intercourse in international peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations.

Researcher ^{Lahodynskyy (2018}) emphasizes that professional foreign language communication of military specialists incorporates a number of features that distinguish it from the communication of representatives of other professions, since it occurs under conditions of emotional stress, caused by the nature of professional tasks performed by these specialists, as well as the actual foreign language speech activity as a distinguished type of activity associated with the psychophysiological mechanisms of its receptive (listening and reading) and productive (speaking and writing) types.

It should be noted that the variety of tasks, operational and emotional tension, the need to adapt to adverse physical factors, formation of a new, unusual functional system of spatial orientation causes extreme versatility and high requirements for the psyche of an officer involved in international operations to maintain peace and security. In these conditions, successful implementation of military activities requires a harmonious combination of the personal, intellectual, physiological and physical professionally essential traits and qualities of an officer. These are: high emotional stability; stability of activity in conditions of growing fatigue; stability of activity in conditions of time shortage and/or insufficient information; self-control; endurance to intense mental activity.

According to ^{Lewinska (2015}) not every military operation takes place in the combat environment and requires extreme sacrifices, however, an officer has to be on the highest possible level of motivation and emotional commitment.

It should also be emphasized that the abilities to quickly memorize visual and auditory information, accurately reproduce the information after a short visual or auditory perception, analyze the situation and make decisions based on visual samples, operate with specific concepts when assessing the situation, think clearly and logically in unpredictable, difficult and stressful situations, act unconventionally are also included into the catalogue of capabilities which officers should have.

Findings

Descriptive statistics on importance of an officers’ readiness for foreign language professional intercourse in international peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations

The notable importance of the surveyed phenomenon is emphasized by the results of the evaluation of future officers’ readiness for foreign language professional intercourse in international peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations carried out in National University of Civil Defence of Ukraine, Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Army Academy and Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs.

Students’ (cadets’) perceptions on importance of readiness for foreign language professional intercourse in international peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations

Results from the Questionnaire (Annex A) suggested that 75% of officers and contractors and 6% of cadets have previously taken part in the antiterrorist operations and the Joint Forces Operation in Ukraine. 63 servicemen (12%) took part in international peacekeeping or rescue operations.

We identified that 147 (49.83%) respondents perceive correctly the essence of the studied notion. 125 people (42.37%) provided answers with some errors, which can be explained by the fact that no previous training of participants has been done, and they encounter this concept for the first time.

A total of 119 people (95.2% from the officer corps) acknowledged the intense need to develop readiness for foreign language professional intercourse in international peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations and the appropriate level of foreign language proficiency to perform peacekeeping tasks. The same opinion is shared by 252 cadets (85.4%).

The surveyed officers revealed the uppermost need for the readiness for foreign language professional intercourse than the contractors and cadets. This can be explained by the fact that such officers and contractors were directly involved in international peacekeeping and security operations and practiced communication with foreign colleagues, where the language of interpersonal (private) and official communication was English.

Most respondents intend participating in international peacekeeping and security operations - (89.69%). 125 officers consider it necessary to develop readiness for foreign language professional intercourse in international peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations when learning in an educational institution, emphasizing the lack of time to adapt whilst performing the duty in international operations. 205 cadets (70.16%) and 90 contract servicemen (86 %) (junior commanders) share the similar opinion.

Consultations among faculty staff on this issue led to the assumption that the low rate among cadets (70%) in understanding the importance of the studied phenomenon indicates their lack of experience of military service in international military contingents.

However, 498 people (95.04%) admitted that, in their opinion, foreign language training in higher education institutions only partially meets the urgent needs of servicemen.

Students’ (cadets’) perceptions on personality traits necessary for foreign language professional intercourse in international operations for peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations

Every professional activity requires certain eminent qualities, which are being formed, developed and improved during professional training. Consequently, a graduate of a higher education institution must have formed essential professional qualities that will change during an officer’s professional activity and acquire a more superior level of development.

The conducted survey allowed singling out the basic personality traits necessary for successful participation of an officer in international operations for peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations. A list of character strengths and competencies was given. The participants were then requested to judge each character’s strength and competency separately based on their subjective perception of the importance (^{BOE, et al., 2017}) for foreign language professional intercourse of officers. These were in ranked divided into several blocks: management skills, intellectual, emotional and motivational, behavioral, spiritual and moral, communicative qualities and skills.

The evaluation of English language proficiency of future military personnel was carried out in accordance with the description of the standards to be met for the NATO Standardization Agreement 6001 - STANAG 6001 (^{NATO, 2010}). Both the receptive (reading and listening) and the productive (speaking and writing) skills were examined.

A challenging task for cadets was to quickly perform English language oral or written exercises in class. Only 14.32% of respondents were able to perform this task at a high level. We determined that 55.85% of cadets can engage in a professional conversation in English, however, the percentage of those who communicate at the elementary (beginner) level remains significantly high: 29.83%.

The cadets’ knowledge of the peculiarities of military, political and technical information transfer, rules of the staff culture, knowledge of abbreviations and their meanings used during radiotelephone communication, radio exchange and daily communication of participants international operations, peculiarities of professional English language communication with foreign colleagues in their area of specialization are recognized as insufficient.

The cadets experienced considerable difficulties in composing interrogative sentences on everyday work issues, comprehending the oral information, and maintaining a spontaneous conversation, which contained extended additional messages, conveying messages in a written form.

As expected, speaking and listening became the most complex types activities for 86.83% of cadets. Nonetheless, these activities best meet the needs of military personnel, who will engage in interlingual and intercultural communication in the performance of their duties in international peacekeeping and security operations.

Since almost all groups of respondents determined that an officer should be fluent in a foreign language and be able to communicate on professional topics, we invited the contractors to self-assess their level of English language proficiency, which revealed that only 20.19% of can speak English fluently on professional topics; 36.54% can communicate only on everyday topics; 41.35% obtain the required minimum knowledge, others (1.92%) can express their opinions by means of an electronic translator.

Predominantly, the cadets exposed high motivation to participate in international peacekeeping operations, understand the need for proper training of foreign language to communicate with foreign colleagues, exhibit personal characteristics necessary for professional interaction and performance of tasks in conditions of emotional tension.

However, the survey revealed that teachings staff do not always implement forms and methods of personality-oriented, problem-based and interactive training, do not model various aspects of professional interaction in a foreign language environment during international peacekeeping and security operations.

82.06% of cadets point to the insufficient use of information and computer technologies in the educative process. Respondents believe that in the age of information technology development and the transition of the Armed Forces to NATO military standards, the introduction of interactive teaching methods, role-playing and games should be significantly intensified. Respondents acknowledge the need to implement motivational methods, Internet technologies and practical situational tasks, round tables, debates, discussions, presentations in English, reading modern authentic dialogues and texts, working out colloquial clichés and terms, moving away from standard, outdated approaches to language learning.

The analysis of textbooks and learning manuals also showed that teachers do not attach due importance to the formation of future officers’ readiness for foreign language professional intercourse in international peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations, which allows to conclude that command language programs may exist on paper, but they are not enhancing future officers’ readiness for foreign language professional intercourse.

Discussion

Structure of an officer’s readiness for foreign language professional intercourse

Following the scholarly literature (^{ARISTARKHOVA, 2019}; ^{HREBENIUK, 2019}), analysis of the content and essence of professional activities to maintain peace and security allows to conclude that an officer’s readiness for foreign language professional intercourse in international peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations can be considered as a complex personal entity, comprising professional and linguistic knowledge, skills, abilities and personal qualities necessary for interlingual, intercultural communication whilst performing professional, socially significant duties in a foreign language environment to ensure peace and security.

The basis of professional readiness to perform a socially significant professional duty of a serviceman in international peacekeeping operations is a foreign language competence (^{ER, 2012}; ^{MONAGHAN, 2012}). Therefore, systematic, consistent and comprehensive language training is of paramount importance for the servicemen’s readiness for foreign language professional intercourse in international peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations.

Generalization of diverse positions of scholars on the structure of readiness for foreign language professional intercourse, requirements of legal documents (^{A New Partnership Agenda. Charting A New Horizon for UN Peacekeeping, 2009}; ^{United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. Principles and Guidelines, 2008}; ^{UN Peacekeeping PDT Standards, 2011}) concerning professionally significant qualities of the military specialist, results of the expert evaluation allow to interpret the structure of an officer’s readiness for foreign language professional intercourse in international peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations as a combination of motivational-emotional, cognitive-conceptual and functional criteria.

The motivational-emotional criterion determines an officer’s focus on effective foreign language professional intercourse. Positive motivation activates the processes of perception, memory and thinking, primarily determines the formation of willpower and development of professional abilities.

Emotional stability and endurance determine the ability to control one’s inner state, manage negative emotions and act adequately and effectively in the unforeseen situations (^{TORGERSEN; STEIRO; SÆVEROT, 2013}) when solving their assigned missions. They are responsible for the balance of emotional state in conditions of emotional tension and stressful situations and help to maintain optimal emotional state and mental activity of an officer. The latter considerably affects the productivity of self-regulation, provides the ability to effectively perform professional tasks in an emotionally saturated field during psychological influence.

The following indicators of the motivational-emotional criterion have been determined:

The cognitive-conceptual criterion refers to the knowledge of means of verbal and nonverbal communication, professional terminology (military words and phrases, acronyms, even slang) (^{NICULESCU; OBILISTEANU; DRAGOMIR, 2019}), rules of text construction specific to military style and genre, features of interpersonal interaction with various categories of interlocutors, taking into account their gender, age, socio-cultural and status characteristics.

English has become an official language of NATO; therefore, it is presently the lingua franca of many ongoing multinational peace operations (^{MEKONNEN YIBRAH KAHSAY, 2019}; ^{SINTLER, 2011}). In accordance with the international agreement STANAG 6001 on the level of foreign language proficiency of servicemen to participate in international peacekeeping and security operations, servicemen must speak English language at the level of SMR-2 (NATO, 2010).

In view of this, the indicators of the cognitive-conceptual criterion comprise the following:

Importance of the functional criterion is due to the importance of dialogue in international operations to maintain peace and security. It presupposes a sufficient level of skills and abilities of constructive and effective contact interaction with the professional environment, effective use of the acquired knowledge, skills and abilities of communicative activity, mastery of modern technologies of decision-making during standard and non-standard professional situations in terms of limited time and resources, analysis of behavior strategies, etc.

In view of this, the indicators of the functional criterion are as follows:

It is imperative to note that the abovementioned components and criteria cannot be considered in isolation, as they are integrative in nature and represent the conclusive result of professional training of the officers.

A level approach is taken to determine an officers’ readiness for foreign language professional intercourse in international peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations. Level is the degree of quantitative and qualitative manifestation of various characteristics of readiness; the degree of expression of certain properties and qualities of personality, their compliance with the standard.

According to the logic of the study and on the basis of the selected criteria, three levels of the studied phenomenon are differentiated: initial, medium and sufficient.

Initial level. A cadet has infrequent or no interest in mastering effective ways of professional foreign language interaction during international peacekeeping and security operations. He/she is characterized by low focus on military service, unformed feelings of duty, responsibility, honesty, discipline, diligence; reduced ability for emotional self-regulation and self-control; insufficient intellectual mobility, flexibility of thinking, etc. A person is minimally aware of the features and rules of interpersonal terminology, has weak knowledge of professional terminology and features of information transfer of military, military-political and military-technical character; superficial knowledge of algorithms of speech behaviors in various situations. A cadet is sometimes intolerant of representatives of other nationalities, languages, traditions, not open to the new. He/she demonstrates fragmentary skills to establish and maintain contacts, insufficient capacity for teamwork; inability to resolve professional conflicts; weak ability to clearly and intelligibly convey information and instructions to subordinate personnel and civilians.

Intermediate level. The cadet expresses unstable interest in mastering effective ways of professional foreign language interaction during international peacekeeping and security operations. He/she is characterized by inconsistent focus on military service, sense of duty, responsibility, honesty, discipline, diligence; reveals situational manifestation of ability for emotional self-regulation and self-control; periodic intermittent flexibility of thinking and intellectual mobility. A person is sufficiently aware of the features and rules of interpersonal terminology, has unstructured knowledge of professional terminology and features of information transfer of military, military-political and military-technical character; fragmentary and unstructured knowledge of algorithms of speech behaviors in various situations. A cadet is mostly tolerant of representatives of other nationalities, languages, and traditions and open to the new. He/she demonstrates primary skills to establish and maintain contacts, capacity for teamwork; situationally shows the ability to resolve professional conflicts; sometimes faces difficulties provided that new, unconventional tasks and communicative situations arise; average ability to clearly and intelligibly convey information and instructions to subordinate personnel and civilians.

Sufficient level. A cadet manifests deep interest in mastering effective ways of professional foreign language interaction during international peacekeeping and security operations. He/she is characterized by constant manifestation of focus on military service, sense of duty, responsibility, honesty, discipline, diligence; highly developed ability for emotional self-regulation and self-control; considerable flexibility of thinking and intellectual mobility. A person is profoundly aware of the features and rules of interpersonal terminology, has stable, systematic knowledge of professional terminology and features of information transfer of military, military-political and military-technical character; in-depth knowledge of algorithms of speech behaviors in various situations. A cadet is always tolerant of representatives of other nationalities, languages, and traditions and open to the new. He/she demonstrates developed skills to establish and maintain contacts, capacity for teamwork; ability to resolve professional conflicts; distinguished ability to clearly and intelligibly convey information and instructions to subordinate personnel and civilians.

Recommendations

The findings of current research can eventually have impact on both academic decisions and potential areas of research; some recommendation can be designated in the paper.

Language training in military higher education institutions should be based on general didactic principles of teaching: principle of systematic and consistent learning, principle of conscious assimilation of knowledge, principle of activity and independence, principle of connection of learning with life. Among the specific pedagogical principles, we should emphasize the principle of specialization (targeting), principle of rigorous regulation and time limitation, principle of differentiation and optimization of the educational process.

It is pertinent to introduce forms and methods of personality-oriented, problem-based and interactive learning into the educational process. Particular importance should be attributed to role-playing games, which, based on the potential problems of certain situational tasks, should be an effective means of acquiring knowledge, skills, abilities in a particular situation. They allow to propound and solve problems that reveal specific aspects of the activities of the servicemen; analyze the problems that focus the officer’s attention on resolving problems when communicating in a foreign language, enhance the formation of language competence; improve practical knowledge and appropriate level of communication culture in a foreign language. Below are examples of communicative situations for role-playing to practice strategy and tactics of professional intercourse.

During the first informal meeting with foreign colleagues, you have to introduce yourself and explain the aim of your participation in the international operation. What side of your life (civilian or military) will you describe? Will your self-presentation differ depending on the formality of the event? Will you specify personal information? Will you try to draw the attention of foreign colleagues to the unique responsibilities you perform? Will you involve and encourage foreign colleagues in the conversation?

During the joint task, the representatives of the German peacekeeping contingent began to openly ridicule you because of your ignorance of the German language and the insufficient knowledge of English. What are your actions? Will you start a “massacre” of those who insult you?

You have been appointed commander of a new multinational unit, which will carry out a number of important peacekeeping tasks for some time. One of the tasks of the commander is to create a favorable atmosphere and mutual trust in the team, support the initiative and maintain mutual understanding with foreign colleagues: how will you achieve this? What leadership style will best suit the role of commander?

While patrolling the Serb-Albanian village, a representative of the Serbian side approaches you and shows you a cross-shaped ornament and calls you to start a fight: “We are brothers with you, Ukrainians, we are Orthodox, and Albanians are Muslims, we will defeat them together!” What are your actions? Will you take part in the conflict situation that is beginning? Will you follow the UN rules on tolerance of the world’s religions? Will you defend “yours”?

To develop the readiness of servicemen for future professional interaction, information and computer technologies should be used, which allow improving skills of receiving and transmitting information in a limited time, effective English language communication skills. Training, information search and control programs allow to expand the possibilities of providing educational information and to diversify the learning activities. It is advisable to utilize open learning platforms, such as Ed era, Edmodo, Eliademy, Moodle, OpenedX, Prometheus, exclusively designed websites (Quizlet, Kahoot, Mentimeter etc.), applications for constructing mental maps like Mindomo, Spinscape, Comapping, Mind42, Text2MindMap, VivaMind, SpiderScribe, blogs, social networks and YouTube.

During professional training, attention should be focused on the fact that future officers not only acquire knowledge, but first of all, work in conditions that simulate future professional activity. To form behavior patterns and skills that are necessary for future professional cooperation in maintaining peace and security, it is necessary to acquaint cadets with the features of their future professional activity. In view of this, it is advisable to model various situational tasks, which allow cadets to study aspects related to cultural tradition, social factors and specifics of language of a particular cultural and linguistic community - language barriers, features of nonverbal communication, perception analysis, stereotypes, circumstances of time and place, features of information movement.

Extensive attention should be directed to thematically selected texts that relate to modern terminology for armaments and equipment of forces (countries) involved in international operations, help cadets to master the terminological minimum for professional communication in a foreign language, explain the peculiarities of the transfer of information of military, military-political and military-technical nature, as well as to learn the abbreviations and their meanings that are used when conducting radiotelephone communication, radio exchange and in the daily communication of participants in international operations. A number of tasks should relate to the rules of drawing up and maintaining documentation in English in accordance with the staff culture. Performing such tasks, cadets learn to obtain the necessary information in English in a shortage of time, draw conclusions, select and find specific material in more complex texts related to their own professional field of activity, to transform the content of the read or listened English-language source to a plan, annotation, generally enriching their vocabulary, improving fluency in English.

It is equally important for cadets to study the culture of English language communication with foreign colleagues while participating in international operations, as well as the language culture, history and realities of countries and organizations where English is the state or working language. Particular attention should be directed to the knowledge and skills needed to understand a variety of well-defined topics: current, past and future events, personal and family news, personal and public affairs, everyday work issues that describe people, places or things.

The results of our study prove the inefficiency of implication of traditional methods of professional training of cadets in terms of building their readiness for foreign language professional intercourse in international peacekeeping, antiterrorist, search and rescue operations; in addition to obtaining the necessary information about the types, forms and methods of professional intercourse in typical and atypical situations, cadets must acquire practical skills. The lack of these skills leads to the fact that a future officer, who receives high marks in theory, is not ready for professional communication in a particular communication situation.

The insufficiency of practical skills leads to the fact that a cadet who receives excellent marks while mastering the theory, is not ready for professional intercourse in a particular communication situation. We recognize the application of interactive teaching methods imperative for effective training of future officers. Interactive teaching methods are characterized by superior motivation and emotionalism, direct feedback between the participants of the educational process, their intense communicative and mental activity. Interactive teaching methods are those tools of the educational process that contribute to the formation of skills and abilities (primarily - communication), mandatory for further professional activities; they intensify the cadets’ enthusiasm, independence and imagination, ability to cooperate, boost training activities, eliminate the natural stiffness, allow to learn the material at a natural pace, and are effective in the context of individualization of learning.

Currently there is a vast arsenal of interactive learning methods: dialogue, discussion, role-playing games, communicative training, and work in pairs, microgroups, “Microphone”, “Brainstorming”, “Situation Analysis”, “Rotating Triples”, “Carousel”, debates and more. Traditional lectures can be partially replaced by lectures based on an interactive approach, in particular: “Lectures-conferences”, “Lectures-consultations” etc.