ACADEMIC PROCRASTINATION IN JUNIOR STUDENTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY IN A LANGUAGE UNIVERSITY

Abstract

This article contains research findings on the current situation, the level of procrastination, and some of the primary reasons why juniors at the Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, VNU University of Languages & International Studies procrastinate academic activities. To collect these data, a Google Form with 44 questions adapted from the Procrastination Assessment Scale for Students (PASS) (Solomon & Rothblum, 1984) was administered to 157 respondents from the Faculty of English Language Teacher Education. The results of descriptive statistics and in-depth interviews indicated that students procrastinate to varying degrees with respect to various academic assignments. Surveyed students procrastinated the most on the task of “keeping up with reading assignments” and delayed the least on the task of “group work”. Students' reasons for procrastination are mostly subjective, including evaluation anxiety, difficulty in making decisions, task aversiveness, and lack of time management skills. Based on its findings regarding student procrastination, this study also presents recommendations for schools, teachers, and students to reduce procrastination and improve learning efficiency.