This article aimed to analyze the identified advantages and disadvantages of distance education in foreign language teaching in the transition to distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected through questionnaires and observations. A total of 298 university students participated in the research. The results of this research show that (1) the quality parameters of the changes and additions to the curriculum of foreign language teaching, (2) the final evaluation of the students in these subjects conducted in distance learning compared to the results shown in the offline form, (3) the satisfaction of the students with the electronic format of academic subjects, and (4) the formation of communicative competences under the changed learning conditions. The results are based not only on the final grades in the control sections in written and oral form but also on the emotional evaluation of the distance format teaching units in foreign languages. In addition, the results have shown that a complete transition to distance education is possible at COVID as a contingency measure. The research results will help to solve problematic issues related to the organization of the educational process and the need to comply with sanitary regulations.

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The importance of the paper is provided by the fact that multilingualism being one of the most important characteristics of the contemporary society envisages the study of two and more foreign languages at non-language higher education institutions. The present research aims to examine and reveal grammatical difficulties the students face while learning English as the first foreign language and Spanish and German as the second ones. The difficulties learners experience are mostly connected with interlanguage interference, in particular, Russian students' grammar interference. The methods used to achieve the goal focus on the analytical review of the contemporary research of the issue under study, the survey of the participants of the teaching experiment, and the method of mathematical statistics. The paper presents the findings of the experiment held by the Department of Foreign Languages at Law Institute of RUDN University (Peoples' Friendship University of Russia). The findings of the research can be used in teaching foreign languages for specific purposes in higher education institutions and as a ground for further development of the issue.

Since 2009 when Brazil, Russia, India, and China (South Africa since 2011) joined in the international organisation aimed at the economic development of the countries, and gain financial stability, the relations between the countries too boosted via political and cultural cooperation. The new economic, political and social environment has a high demand for competent specialists ready to work in various national agendas and interrelated frameworks of the BRICS. In this context, it is argued that professional training in the countries under discussion should be correlated as it provides grounds for quality assurance in education that contributes to the nations’ sustainable development, safety, and human rights provision. This situation determines the topicality of the issue. The objective of this research is to study the higher educational environment in the BRICS countries and to compare some aspects of professional training. In doing so, the study aims to present the experience of RUDN University as one of the BRICS university network members. The hypothesis states that the harmonisation of higher education systems within regional organisations can contribute to the enhancement of both international standards and individual learning paths, thus fostering youth rights for education in line with quality standards and individual preferences. To accomplish the objectives of the study, it uses the following methods - the review of the current research, formal document and online resources on higher education in the BRICS countries; the survey of the undergraduates, graduates, and postgraduates on their motivation to academic mobility, and collaboration in the frameworks of BRICS higher education. The data has been analysed employing the methods of statistical processing, qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings of the current research include the outcomes and findings on the harmonisation of higher education in the frameworks of BRICS higher education. The study will contribute to further development of BRICS countries education and the harmonisation of higher education.

ObjectiveAlthough treatment adherence and lifestyle changes significantly improve the prognosis of cardiovascular disease, many patients do not comply with clinician recommendations. Personality functioning appears to be of importance and is hypothesized to be superior to symptom-based measures in explaining individual differences in non-adherence.Methods194 cardiology inpatients (mean age = 70.6 years, 60% male) were assessed using self-report measures in a cross-sectional design. Patients were assessed using the short version of the Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis Structure Questionnaire (OPD-SQS) to measure personality functioning, as well as the Childhood Trauma Screener (CTS), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) for symptoms of depression, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-7 (GAD-7). To assess non-adherence we introduced a brief, novel scale.ResultsNon-adherence correlated significant with personality functioning (r = 0.325), childhood trauma (r = 0.204) and depressiveness (r = 0.225). In a stepwise multiple regression analysis with socio-demographic variables inputted into the model, higher deficits in personality functioning, higher levels of childhood trauma, and male gender were associated with non-adherence (adjusted R2 = 0.149, F(3,190) = 12.225, p < 0.01). Level of depressive symptoms, anxiety, age, education, and income showed no significant additional predictive value and were excluded from the model.ConclusionIn cardiovascular disease, personality functioning, childhood trauma and male gender are associated with non-adherence and appear to be more important than symptom reports of depression and anxiety. This highlights the relevance of basic impairments in intra- and interpersonal functioning in chronic disease, where the patient’s adherence is central.