A significant number of studies are devoted to the psychological and social adaptation of students to the educational process at university. This research contributes to the solution of the problem of first-year students’ academic performance in the framework of studying a foreign language by working with monologue speaking tasks. The study offers an analysis of the improvement of academic performance in this particular type of language activity. The study took place at Peter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University, Russia, and involved 274 first-year students enrolled in undergraduate programs. Mixed qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to collect and analyse data for the study. The research included the qualitative content analysis of monologue speaking tasks. Results of the study make it possible to conclude that the use of monologue speaking tasks paired with peer interaction and peer assessment can improve first-year students’ English-speaking skills.

This paper addresses the problem of the formation of the self-regulation of educational activities of students studying in a technical university. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the problem of the self-regulation of educational activities of students, presenting data from an experimental study of students’ self-regulation. Special attention is paid to the distinction between the terms self-control and self-regulation. This paper presents data on the state of self-regulation among students studying technical specialties. The research methodology is based on the theoretical analysis of the results of scientific works, which present the main provisions on the formation of students’ self-regulation. The research methods include questioning and a methodical experiment. The stages of the formation of students’ self-regulation are highlighted, and the main directions of teachers’ work on the formation of students’ self-regulation are determined. The structure of self-regulation is described and the condition for its formation is justified using the technology of self-regulation formation. Based on the study, students’ self-regulation is linked to the awareness of their professional and personal goals, as well as to the level of regulatory and reflective qualities. Personal and professional self-improvement in the process of vocational education depends on the level of the formation of regulatory and reflexive qualities.

Foreign language speaking skills need much practice in order to be improved, which is why it is essential to use different teaching techniques to instruct students effectively. The multiplicity and multitasking of the foreign language teaching process requires the introduction of technology that ensures consistently effective results of professional foreign language learning, i.e., case technology in the algorithmized educational process. The conducted research contributes to the issue of case technology implementation—the algorithm of professional task solutions, aimed at improving students’ English-speaking skills—in teaching professional legal English. The aim of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of case technology in the improvement of ESP speaking skills in the course of distance and face-to-face learning. Comparative analysis of the distance and face-to-face format of case technology implementation in teaching professional foreign communication to law students was carried out in the course of the two-semester study conducted at SPbPU (N 120) in the period from January 2020 to July 2021. Mixed qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to collect and analyse data for the study. The results of the study showed that, for such assessment criteria as task completion, discourse competence and meaningfulness, the use of case technology in a face-to-face format was more effective than the one carried out on-line. As it can have some pedagogical implications on the improvement of English-speaking skills while teaching professional legal English at university, additional effort should be taken to ensure the effectiveness of case technology in the course of distance learning.

(1) The aim of this study is to investigate the psychological climate in first-year students’ academic groups in Russia after they experienced the period of distance learning at the initial stage of university studies (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and to find out how different it is compared with the academic groups of first-year students whose university studies were not influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. (2) Methods: Mixed quantitative and qualitative methods were applied to collect data using A. N. Lutoshkin’s questionnaire with closed-ended questions. The questionnaire determines the psychological climate in students’ academic groups. (3) Results: The results of the study reveal considerable differences in the psychological climate of the investigated groups. The findings suggest that the students whose university studies were not influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic considered their academic groups to have more mutual understanding, a greater desire to cooperate with other teams, a better mood in the team, a greater desire to participate in the joint affairs, etc., in comparison with the students who experienced a period of distance learning at the initial stage of their studies. (4) Conclusions: The transition to distance learning allows students to continue their studies under epidemiological restrictions. However, the factors affecting the speed of the adaptation of first-year students in distance learning and the determination of the degree of their influence on the socio-psychological state of the students remain insufficiently studied. This study contributes to the field by defining the peculiarities of the psychological climate in first-year students’ academic groups after they experienced a period of distance learning at the initial stage of university studies. It also specifies how the psychological climate is different from the academic groups of first-year students who were taught in a traditional format. As psychological climate plays a crucial role for EFL instruction, measures must be taken to ease the first-year students’ adaptation process while studying online.