Impact of Cooperative Language Learning on Communicative Competence of University Students Majoring in Engineering

Abstract

The growing demand for engineers proficient in English, to access advanced technologies and engage in international projects, necessitates effective pedagogical approaches in higher education. A literature review reveals the absence of a coherent framework that integrates the potential of CLL into developing foreign language communicative competence within professional contexts. Responding to re-quests from both educators and learners, this study develops and validates a structured CLL model tailored to form foreign language communicative competence of engineering students. This article addresses the formation of foreign language communicative competence in engineering students through cooperative language learning (CLL). Using theoretical methods (integrative literature review, modeling) and empirical methods (pedagogical experiment, descriptive statistics) the research introduces a novel CLL-based foreign language communicative competence model. Formative and summative assessments across five communicative competence components of the first-year engineering undergraduates from the Institute of Natural Sciences and Mathematics of the South Ural State University confirm the model’s effectiveness. Post-intervention questionnaires and interviews enabled to identify three categories of CLL challenges: participation barriers, group dynamics, and instructional demands. The iterative refinement of mitigation strategies in response to these challenges constitutes a key finding: successful CLL implementation depends not merely on cooperative activities but on systematic, observation-driven adjustment. The results contribute to professional education by offering an empirically grounded model for foreign language communicative competence development in engineering programs.