Abstract:

Participation in different international projects involves activities like project-team meetings, researches, work on intellectual outputs, training sessions. Group work and workshops are the most common organizational format that requires cooperation and interaction to fulfil the tasks. Usually learning happens through active participation in such activities as questioning, clarifying opinions, sharing ideas, making handouts and posters, giving a presentation of the group work that corresponds to the main features of non-formal education (learning by doing, which means acquiring different skills and abilities in the practical action, learning from experience and learning within a specific process), as well as the features of cooperative learning (individual responsibility, direct communication, acquisition of social skills - cooperation skills: encouragement, explanation and comprehension testing facilitate group work, evaluation - participants evaluate the achievements of cooperation). The term "cooperation" means the form of work organization and learning - a process of personal development that takes place in a learning style specific to each person. Cooperative learning is one of the ways of learning in groups to acquire both academic knowledge and social skills.

A survey of participants in various international education projects was conducted in Latvia and Lithuania with the aim of identifying the experience of non-formal cooperative learning during international activities. This paper analyses the results of the survey on respondents' experiences of non-formal cooperative learning according to the above features, illustrating them with the impact of non-formal cooperative learning on improving English language skills and enriching English vocabulary, as communication and interaction usually takes place in English.

The conclusion gives a summary of the research findings focusing on the respondents’ personal experience, specific activities, the acquired skills as well as motivation for further education.

Keywords:

Cooperative learning, English vocabulary, group work, non-formal adult education.