Communication Apprehension of South African Accounting Students: The Effect of Culture and Language

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 505-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen A. Coetzee ◽  
Astrid Schmulian ◽  
Lizette Kotze
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
White Students ◽  
Communication Apprehension ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
African Students ◽  
Language Data ◽  
Culture And Language

ABSTRACT Developing communication skills is an objective of many accounting education programs. Students' communication apprehension may hamper this. This study explores South African accounting students' communication apprehension and the association thereof with culture and home and instruction language. Data were collected using the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24) and Written Communication Apprehension (WCA) self-report questionnaires. South Africa provides an example of the salience of race, given past racial segregation. Culture is, however, more complex than physical appearance. Significant differences were identified in communication apprehension between students from previously disadvantaged African communities attending poorly resourced schools, and African and White students attending well-resourced, Westernized schools. Further, this study suggests that students who receive instruction in the business language in which they are to function as graduates exhibit less communication apprehension in that language, regardless of their home language. While this study considers South African students, the results may be of interest in other multicultural or multilingual environments, particularly where socio-economic differences pervade. The adoption of pedagogy to remedy the communication apprehension of a student may aggravate the apprehension of another. To limit such unintended consequence, instructors need to look beyond appearance in anticipating a student's predisposition to communication apprehension.

Differences in accounting students’ perceptions of their development of professional skills

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-59
Author(s):  
Marina Kirstein ◽  
Stephen Coetzee ◽  
Astrid Schmulian
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Differentiated Instruction ◽  
South African ◽  
White Students ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Professional Skills ◽  
African Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
History Of

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore differences in South African accounting students’ perceptions of professional skills developed in an undergraduate accounting program. South Africa has a history of socio-economic inequality and racial injustice, leading to factors outside the classroom impacting educational outcomes. In particular, South African classes are heterogeneous, reflecting a diversity of race and language groups and students from differing schooling backgrounds. These differences necessitate differentiated instruction. Design/methodology/approach To explore for differences in perceptions, data were collected via questionnaires and differences between demographic variables such as school, race and language were considered, while controlling for gender. A focus group was also hosted to further explore findings. Findings Students from better quality schools agreed less strongly than those from poorer quality schools that the education program developed their professional skills. Students from better quality schools may have developed some of the professional skills during their schooling, requiring less to be developed at university. African students, though, agreed less strongly than white students from similar quality schools that they had developed professional skills. A focus group suggested that African students place less emphasis on professional skills development than on technical skills, given their lack of exposure to professional skills through mentors (parents, teachers, etc.) who never developed professional skills during their own compromised education under Apartheid. Originality/value Understanding the differences in the perceptions of professional skill development in a heterogeneous classroom can assist instructors in adopting differentiated instruction approaches to enable all students to develop professional skills. It could also assist future employers of these graduates to differentiate their development strategies during workplace training.

Multilingualism and social cohesion: insights from South African students (1998, 2010, 2015)

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (242) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Coetzee-Van Rooy
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Home Language ◽  
African Students ◽  
African Context ◽  
Vaal Triangle ◽  
Complex Settings ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

AbstractThe relationship between nations (or states), languages and social cohesion have been studied over time. Contexts like Africa and India challenge the conceived Western notion of “one-nation-one-language”. Insights about multilingualism and social cohesion from complex sociolinguistic contexts like South Africa could provide a deeper understanding helpful for promoting social cohesion in emerging “super-diverse” situations across the globe. This article reports on selected data from a longitudinal language repertoire survey conducted over three periods (1998, 2010 and 2015) in the Vaal Triangle region in South Africa. It discusses the views of multilingual urban students (N=1900+) about the relationship between multilingualism and social cohesion. The main findings are that the multilingual African home language participants believe that being multilingual is related to social cohesion, while this is not a prominent finding for Afrikaans home language users (who are mainly bilingual). The data from the South African context indicate the importance of multilingual repertoires as instruments that support the fostering of social cohesion in complex settings. Multilingual repertoires facilitate communication that enhances the building of better relationships and a deeper understanding between people in diverse settings. The implications of the findings for emerging “super-diverse” global societies are discussed.

scholarly journals The Influence Of Knowing Web 2.0 Risks And Controls On Web 2.0 Usage And Security Practices Of Online Users

2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 105
Author(s):  
Riaan J. Rudman
Keyword(s):  
Web 2.0 ◽  
South African ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Popular Media ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Web 2.0 Technologies ◽  
African Students ◽  
User Behaviour ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
Two Populations

Significant changes have taken place on the internet in recent years. The most prominent is the introduction of Web 2.0 technologies (Web 2.0), which promotes sharing and collaboration. This study investigates the usage patterns, and awareness levels of the risks and controls associated with Web 2.0 by educated and uneducated users. Accounting students (as a proxy for educated users) are taught about the risks and controls of Web 2.0 as part of their studies, whereas Business Strategy students (as a proxy for uneducated users) exposure is limited to popular media and their own research. The results indicate that the use of Web 2.0 is popular among South African students irrespective of which course they major in. The Web 2.0 awareness levels of both populations were relatively high with no significant differences. Contrary to expectation, the level of usage; types of Web 2.0 technologies; types of risks; and the manner and frequency of sharing of information by the two populations were not found to differ significantly. The research highlights that although Accounting students are taught about the risks and controls in Web 2.0, they do not take these risks and controls into consideration in their personal life when interacting with Web 2.0. Contrary to expectation, it appears that being formally educated on Web 2.0 does not have a larger impact on user behaviour than awareness gained from popular media. It also indicates how user behaviour influences the effectiveness of online controls.

scholarly journals The relationship between self-efficacy and accounting students' academic performance at a South African university

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riley Carpenter ◽  
Sihaam Shamsoodien
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
South African ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
South African Higher Education ◽  
The Relationship

Racial transformation is crucial for South African higher education institutions, the accounting profession and the country as a whole. Consequently, determinants of students’ academic success must be at the forefront of accounting education research. Understanding these determinants will assist universities to better assist students with their learning. This study focused on self-efficacy in academic performance—a previously limited research area in South African accounting education. The aim was to determine the relationship between self-efficacy and academic performance amongst students registered in a second-year undergraduate course for an accounting degree at a South African university. It was found that self-efficacy was moderately positively correlated with academic performance. The findings indicate that it is worthwhile performing further empirical research on self-efficacy, especially while controlling for other significant factors affecting students’ academic performance. 

Career Decision of South African Students in Vocational Education

1999 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 488-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark B. Watson ◽  
Darryl Smith
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Black Students ◽  
Vocational Education ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
South African ◽  
White Students ◽  
Career Decision ◽  
First Year ◽  
African Students ◽  
Career Decisiveness

The career decisiveness of postsecondary South African students in vocational education ( N = 1062) were assessed. Analysis indicated that White students were more decisive about careers than Asian and Black students in the first year. The implications of this finding for postsecondary education in South Africa are discussed.

PENGARUH MOTIVASI, KREATIFITAS, DAN MENTALITAS TERHADAP PENDIDIKAN AKUNTANSI PADA PERGURUAN TINGGI SWASTA DI KOTA PADANG

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Fitriani Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Hypothesis Testing ◽  
Private Universities ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Accounting Curriculum ◽  
Accounting Courses ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The City

Accounting education is taught in some private universities has impressed as stagnant knowledge, mechanical, and oriented material that causes a lot of students in general become saturated in the learning process. In Indonesia at several universities, almost all accounting courses little or no charge to enter the motivation, creativity, and mentality in the accounting curriculum-based motivation, creativity, and mentality can only he done well when formulated in a more complete firm of the curriculum. Therefore, this study examines the effect of motivation, creativity and mentality in accounting education to obtain empirical evidence. In this study using primary data obtained through questionnaires from a list of questions posed to accounting students in private universities in the city of Padang. The sample in this study was conducted with a purposive sampling technique where the sampling method was based on certain criteria, namely : involving student participants who majored in accounting class of 2010, 2011, and 2012 who had studied the sciences and overall accounting associated with accounting. Testing the hypothesis of this research is conducted with multiple regression analysis. The first hypothesis testing results found that motivation does not significantly influence accounting education in private universities Padang. The second hypothesis testing results found that creativity significantly influence accounting education in private universities Padang. The third hypothesis testing results found that significantly influence the mentality of accounting education in private universities Padang.

USING A WHITE-COLLAR PROFESSION IN ACCOUNTING COURSES: APPROACHES TO ADDRESSING DIVERSITY

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
William D. Samson ◽  
Cheryl L. Allen ◽  
Richard K. Fleischman ◽  
Ida B. Robinson-Backmon
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Role Models ◽  
White Collar ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Accounting Profession ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Individual

Accounting educators no doubt agree that diversity is an important and much neglected part of accounting education. They further recognize that it is difficult to incorporate this important topic into the accounting curriculum. This paper describes the efforts of various professors to expose business and accounting students to the evolution of diversity issues related to the accounting profession by using the book A White-Collar Profession [Hammond, 2002]. A White-Collar Profession: African-American CPAs Since 1921 is a seminal work which presents a history of the profession as it relates to African-American CPAs and documents the individual struggles of many of the first one hundred blacks to become certified. This paper describes efforts of faculty at four different colleges to utilize this book in their teaching of accounting. Instructors found that students not only developed an enhanced awareness about the history of the accounting profession, but that other educational objectives were advanced, such as improved communication and critical thinking skills, increased social awareness, and empathy for others. African-American students, in particular, embraced the people in the book as role models, while most every student saw the characters as heroic in a day when the accounting profession is badly in need of role models and heroes. This is encouraging given the profession's concern with diversity and the attention and resources directed at increasing the number of minorities entering the profession.

Ethics and accounting education: does teaching stand-alone religious courses affect accounting students’ ethical decisions?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim El-Sayed Ebaid
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Business Ethics ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
T Test ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Credit Hours ◽  
Ethical Decisions

Purpose Undergraduate accounting program at Umm Al-Qura University in Saudi Arabia is a unique case. The program includes 147 credit hours of which 28 credit hours are religious courses. This study aims to examine the effect of teaching these religious courses on students’ ethical perceptions and decisions. Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted for a sample of accounting students at Umm Al-Qura University. The sample was divided into two groups; the first group includes students who did not study religious courses, while the second group includes students who study religious courses. The questionnaire contained three groups of questions that aimed to explore students’ perceptions of ethics in general, students’ perceptions of business ethics and explored their ethical attitudes regarding some accounting decisions that involve ethical dilemmas. Independent two-sample t-test and multiple regression analysis were used to determine whether the responses of the two groups were significantly different. Findings The findings of the study revealed that teaching religious courses led to an improvement in students’ perception of business ethics and an improvement in students’ ethical decision-making. However, the results of the independent sample t-test showed that this improvement was not significant. The results of the study also revealed that male students tend to make less ethical decisions than female students. Research limitations/implications The findings offer an indication for those responsible for managing the accounting program at Umm Al-Qura University to start developing the program so that some of the general religious courses are replaced with specialized courses in accounting ethics that focus directly on ethical dilemmas faced by the accountant when practicing the accounting profession. Originality/value This study contributes to the current literature related to examining the effect of teaching ethics courses on the ethical perception of accounting students by focusing on accounting students in Saudi Arabia as a context that has not been examined before.

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