Mastering of socio-cultural knowledge and knowledge about the country by cadets of the educational organizations of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs as the motivation to study a foreign language

Introduction. The analysis of scientific and methodical publications shows that the cadets’ mastering of socio-cultural and country-specific knowledge has not been covered yet by scientific literature. Therefore, consideration of this aspect is a significant and relevant problem. Materials and Methods. The research attempted is based on the competency-based approach via method of questionnaire and interviewing conducted with 350 cadets of the Omsk Academy of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs who took part in maintaining law and order during the International sport event. Results and Discussion. The author reveals the motivation to study based on acquiring country-specific and socio-cultural knowledge. The need to participate in cross-national communication applying the country-specific and socio-cultural knowledge with the aim to perform professional duties determines the motivation of cadets at the educational organization of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for further study of the foreign language. Conclusions. The learning mmaterials for professional teaching English to the cadets must include socio-cultural and country-specific information sufficient for forming general cultural competencies, as this information is one of the areas of motivation to learn a foreign language. In its turn, it will lead not only to the enhancement of the lexicon but also to the increased general cultural level necessary for effective professional performance in situations of cross-national communication.