Background: The Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality traits is one of the most comprehensive personality models in modern psychology. The traits, or domains, of the model, provide an extensive framework, which allows researchers to analyse the correlation between the aspects of personality and various aspects of social behaviour. Academic achievement is a key factor in a subject's success, and a more comprehensive understanding of its potential factors could improve educational programs and teaching strategies. Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to consider the correlations between the FFM (Big Five) personality traits and the academic achievement of university students in various fields of study. Design: This study has adopted a descriptive analytic approach by exploring previous research data. In the present empirical research, the Big Five factors were measured with the Russian NEO Five-Factor Inventory adaptation by S. Biryukov and M. Bodunov. Academic achievement was defined as the average value of the semester final grades. The Spearman correlation analysis was used for statistical analysis. The sample includes 207 first-and second-year university students in the Linguistics Department. Results: The analysis of the published data revealed that Western psychological studies show that consciousness and openness, two values in the model, are more closely connected with the peculiarities of the students' academic achievement in different fields of study, but similar studies conducted in Russian universities do not fully confirm this data. Findings of our research proved that consciousness is more associated with greater academic achievement of Russian linguistics students in most fields of study compared to the other FFM traits, while other traits showed more specific correlations with particular fields of study. Conclusions: The data suggests that both environmental and internal psychological factors, such as motivation, intelligence, inclinations, abilities, etc. affect academic achievement. However, further research suggests that volitional and cognitive personality traits considered in the framework of various models of personality may have a great influence on academic achievement and should also be taken into consideration. Personality traits, especially consciousness and openness of the FFM, are significant factors of academic achievement. The associations between academic achievement and FFM traits are more prominent in those fields of study that include such features as their relative

* Напомена. Истраживање је реализовано у оквиру иницијативног научноистраживачког пројекта "Самореализација личности у мултикултуралној средини" на бази катедре за социјалну и диференцијалну психологију Руског универзитета пријатељства народа (№ 050421-0-000).

Foreign (second) language (FL/SL) proficiency is one of the most important competencies for a modern person, and is necessary for both professional and personal fulfillment. The purpose of this study is to consider and compare personality traits and creativity as predictors of success in foreign language acquisition (FLA). The sample includes 128 (105 female and 23 male) first- and second-year university linguistics students. Creativity is measured by the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults (ATTA). The FFM personality traits are measured by the Russian NEO Five-Factor Inventory adaptation by S. Biryukov and M. Bodunov. To assess the level of FL proficiency, we used a traditional academic achievement indicator (the semester’s final grades in English), as well as the English teachers’ assessment of the level of language proficiency of their students according to the “Foreign Language Proficiency Scale” (10 indicators and total score). Descriptive statistics methods and a multiple regression analysis were used to process the data in the R software environment, version 3.5.2. The findings of our research showed that creativity indicators have a stronger but contradictory impact on the level of FL proficiency compared to personality traits. We suggest that teachers, most likely, lack knowledge on the manifestations of student creativity in the process of FL learning.

No abstract

The paper presents the results of a study of the connection between the parameters of the communicative tolerance and the intercultural adaptation in the international students from a multinational university (Peoples' Friendship University of Russia). A total of 337 respondents took part in the research, including 182 young men and 155 young women from five parts of the world: Latin America, Asia (China), Arab countries, Africa, the countries of the Central Asian region. The level of the communicative tolerance was measured with the technique "General communicative tolerance" by V.V.Boyko. The Questionnaire of the adaptation of the person to the new socio-cultural environment (APSCE) by L.V.Yankovsky, in T.G.Stefanenko and M.S.Panov's modified version was used to define the features of the intercultural adaptation of the international students. The Kruskal-Wallis non-parametrical criteria, the Analysis of Variance (MANOVA), and the correlation analysis (Spearman RankCorrelations) were used for the statistical analysis. The study revealed that the rates of the communicative tolerance, as a whole, are positively related to the efficiency of the intercultural adaptation of the international students in Russia (especially for the students from Africa, Arab countries and Latin America).