Work in small groups as an efficient means of development of communicative competence in the foreign language lessons

The relevance of the article is due to the search for effective methods of teaching a foreign language at a non-linguistic university. Work in small groups is currently not very widely accepted in the practice of teaching a foreign language both at school and at the university. However, it has enormous potential not only for developing communicative competences, but also for developing creativity and critical thinking, as well as developing teamwork skills, which is of great importance for future professional life of young specialists. The purpose of the article is to analyze pros and cons of work in small groups, justify the use of group work at a foreign language lesson as one of the effective methods, and also consider typical tasks applied in group work. The article substantiates the effectiveness of this method and offers specific types of tasks which can be used in work on different types of language activity: speaking, writing, listening, reading. The author gives examples of using such method of work in small groups in the framework of the discipline "Foreign Language" in an English class of first-year students, majoring in "Construction". The results of the work led to conclusions proving the effectiveness of using such a method, which made learning more effective, developed the creative activity of students and demonstrated an individual approach in teaching. The method of work in small groups is applicable at English lessons for other specialities too.

effective methods, a small group, cooperation, critical thinking, soft skills, competences, communicative approach, interaction, interactive training