Bendradarbiavimo metodo taikymas anglų kalbos paskaitoje ; Implementation of collaborative english language learning method in the classroom
The object of the present article is the implementation of collaborative learning during English classes. The aim of the study was to determine the effectiveness of implementing collaborative learning strategies during English classes of second-year cadets at General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania in 2017-2018. The results of the research demonstrate that the greater majority of the cadets successfully achieved level 2 based on the achievement test. The collaborative learning method was integrated into the learning process in the two, out of five, groups as well as into the course description. It was pivotal to organize the study according to the paradigm of free education which is closely connected to the theory of constructivism. The latter, based on the assumption that knowledge is a construct, accentuates the active involvement of the learner whose learning paradigm should become multifunctional and multifaceted. It is the area of foreign language education that becomes the meeting point of collaborative learning and the constructivist theory. Thus, the study was organized in the way to enable the implementation of the collaborative learning strategies in the form of questions and either written or oral answers, different reading strategies, public speaking, discussion and argumentation as being crucial in writing and speaking; as well as through inducing creativity and critical thinking, communication, information collecting, selecting and systematizing skills. The project method was pointed out as a universal method that both requires self-regulation and responsibility for the results of one's individual assignment and simultaneously diversifies the learning process.