Analysis of the factors influencing students' academic performance in learning foreign languages in Russian universities

Abstract

The study is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of the factors determining the academic performance of Russian university students in learning foreign languages. The relevance of the topic is due to the growing importance of language competencies in the context of globalization and internationalization of higher education. The aim of the work is to identify the key determinants of academic performance and develop recommendations for optimizing language training. The tasks include systematization of theoretical approaches, analysis of empirical data and identification of the most significant factors. The research methodology is based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, including questionnaires, testing, interviews, and statistical analysis. The empirical base was compiled from a survey of 1,500 students from 15 universities in different regions of Russia. The results show that motivation (r=0.78; p<0.01), academic workload (r=-0.65; p<0.01) and teacher qualifications (r=0.59; p<0.05) play a leading role in academic performance. At the same time, significant differences between linguistic specialties and non-linguistic areas of training were revealed. The findings allow us to identify ways to improve the effectiveness of language education, including the introduction of adaptive methods, strengthening practice orientation and individualization of learning. It is advisable to focus further research on detailing the mechanisms of influence of the identified factors and developing predictive performance models.