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Different linguistic classifications of Spanish and Slovak make the differences between these two languages. The genetic criterion classifies languages, clustering them into language families, the largest among which is the Indoeuropean one. The typological criterion divides languages according to their grammatical structures. Meanwhile, Slovak is genetically a Slavonic language, and Spanish is a Romance language. Therefore, they both belong to different language families. Also, according to the typological criterion, Slovak is a synthetic language, and Spanish is an analytic language. Based on a theoretical study of the standard features and differences between the Slovak and Spanish verb systems, we formulated the hypotheses about language interferences, which are accepted or rejected at the end of the research. The current research aims to examine the errors in the use of past tenses by Slovak university students who study Spanish as a foreign language, and then analyze where these errors are due to interference with their native language. The present paper observes what errors students make in using past tenses in Spanish. The research question is: What interferences do Slovak learners of the Spanish language experience in the use of past tenses? We applied scientific methods (an observation, a textual analysis, a synthesis) to conduct the study. The first method was an observation. Applying this method made it possible to gather data by watching the process of doing grammatical exercises in Spanish during classes held from September 2020 to May 2022 for the first- and second-year students at the Faculty of Applied Languages of the University of Economics in Bratislava. These students knew English and were generally better at it than Spanish. We also conducted a textual analysis that primarily looked at the learners’ short-text writing skills. We used a form with 30 phrases the respondents needed to complete using past tenses. Then, we assessed the written and spoken communication skills of students. The analysis results show that, on the one hand, most respondents needed help distinguishing between the past continuous and simple past tenses, resulting in misuse. On the other hand, we found some slight errors in phrases in which the present perfect tense was supposed to be used.

The article aims at conducting empirical research of university students’ readiness to handle independent work while studying the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course, subject to the availability of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). In order to accomplish the objective of the article, a mixed methods research was applied. According to the research methodology, the questionnaires were conducted during the first semester of the academic year 2019/20 and then in the first semester of the academic year 2020/21 at the Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics. The investigation covered the period before the outset of the pandemic when a blended learning approach included instructor-led classroom training and e-learning elements; and then during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine when webucation was in line with the priorities of the training process. The participants of the study were first-year and second-year students of non-linguistic specialities. The scientific research reflected that teaching ESP was focused on enhancing foreign language learning in the particular field of study such as IT, law, trade, marketing, management or economics, to equip students with the oral and written comprehension and speaking skills that they would need to leverage partnerships with international interlocutors in the business community. The obtained results confirmed the high value of the resources available online for studying ESP as an academic discipline in university-level curricula. The analysis of data showed that during the pandemic almost equal percentages of the respondents faced the challenges that accompanied the process of learning English online. Students noted all four proposed options that characterised the disadvantages of completing the assignments independently, namely the communication vacuum, difficulties in choosing supplemental instructional materials, as well as a lack of self-discipline and control. The outcome confirmed the need to assist students’ independent work. To meet that demand, the authors carried out a Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat (SWOT) Analysis related to the use of ICTs within the organising framework of students’ independent work while teaching ESP during a pandemic. It has been concluded that the opportunities and threats, as well as the strengths and weaknesses, identified through the SWOT analysis, characterise the advantages, drawbacks and peculiarities that emerge in the process of providing guidance for students’ independent work in the study of ESP, integrating them into a coherent whole.