Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the communication proficiency of the Cost and Management (CMA) students and to assess whether the studying of the subject,, ”Communication Skills”, is having any positive influence on students’ skills development. The research design for this paper was descriptive, quantitative and cross-sectional. The target population was 556 CMA students. A census survey was conducted. Findings, which were analysed with the aid of descriptive statistics, indicate a significant correlation between skills in English proficiency and better grades in CMA. This paper recommends the implementation of a screening mechanism and the provision for the acquisition of communication skills for first-year university students.
Keywords
- Management Accounting Search this journal for Management Accounting (opens in a new tab)
- Financial Accounting Search this journal for Financial Accounting (opens in a new tab)
- Communication Search this journal for Communication (opens in a new tab)
- Urbanisation Search this journal for Urbanisation (opens in a new tab)
- Critical Thinking Skills Search this journal for Critical Thinking Skills (opens in a new tab)
- Language Proficiency Search this journal for Language Proficiency (opens in a new tab)
- Literacy Skills Search this journal for Literacy Skills (opens in a new tab)
References
- Ameen, E., Bruns, S. M. & Jackson, C. (2010). Communication skills and accounting: Do perceptions match reality? Responsibilities and leadership education, 63-65.
- Banda, F. (2003). A survey of literacy practices in black and coloured communities in South Africa: Towards pedagogy of multiliteracies. Language, culture and curriculum , 16(2), 106-129.
- Blaylock, A. & Lacewell, S. K. (2008). Assessing prerequisites as a measure of success in principles of finance course. Academy of educational leadership , 12(1), 51-62.
- Bohlmann, C. A. & Pretorius, E. J. (2002). Reading skills and mathematics. Higher education, 16(3), 196-206.
- Bosire, J., Mondoh, H. & Barmao, A. (2008). Effect of streaming by gender on student achievement in mathematics in secondary schools in Kenya. Education, 28, 595-607.
- Brown, B. A. (2010). Teachers’ accounts of the usefulness of multigrade teaching in promoting sustainable human-development related outcomes in rural South Africa. African studies, 36(1), 190-207.
- Carver, R. P. (1978). Another look at rauding theory. Reading research quarterly , 13(1), 116-132.
- Cheng, K. W. (2007).The curriculum design in universities from the perspective of providers in accounting education. Education , 127(4), 581-590.
- Eiselen, R. & Geyser, H. (2003). Factors distinguishing between achievers and at risk students: a qualitative and quantitative synthesis. Higher education , 17(2), 118-130.
- Fakeye, D. & Yemi, O. (2009). English language proficiency as a predictor of academic achievement among EFL students in Nigeria. Scientific research , 37(3), 490-495.
- Gray, F. E. (2010). Specific oral communication skills desired in new accountancy graduates. Business communication quarterly , 73(1), 40-67.
- Graham, A., Hampton, M. & Willett, C. (2009). What not to write: An intervention in written communication skills for accounting students. Management Education , 8(2).
- Hall, M. (2001). Access to higher education: race, resources and social exclusion. Safundi: South African and American Comparative Studies , 2(2), 1-24.
- Kurland, D. J. (2000). What is critical thinking? (Online). Available WWW: http://www.criticalreading.com/critical_thinking.htm (Accessed 22 September 2011).
- Lanier, P. A. & Tanner, J. R. (1999). A report on gender and gender-related issues in the accounting professoriate. Education for business , 75(2), 76-82.
- Lin, P., Grace, D., Krishnan, S. & Gilsdorf, J. (2010). Failure to communicate. The CPA, 63-65.
- Matlala, M. Y. (2005). Barriers to academic achievement of first year African students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (online). Available WWW: http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10413/1365/Matlala_MY_2005.pdf?seque nce=1 (Accessed 19 November 2010).
- Mitchell, C., Dillon, D., Wilson, T. S., Pithouse, K., Islam, F., O’Connor, K., Rudd, C., Staniforth, P. & Cole, A. (2010). Things fall apart and come together: Using the visual for refection in alternative teacher education programmes. Changing English , 17(1), 45-55 .
- National award for management accounting (online). 2010. Available WWW: http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Member%20docs/nafma-APPENDIX.pdf (Accessed 26 July 2011).
- Pantages, T. J. & Creedon, R. (1978). Studies in college attrition 1950-1975. Review of Education Research , 48(1), 49-101.
- Perumal, J. (2009). Reading and creating critically leaderful schools that make a difference: the post-apartheid South African case. Leadership in education , 12(1), 35-49.
- Phurutse, M. C. (2003). Redressing educational inequalities: A classroom perspective. Paper presented at Spencer Colloquium, Durban, 2003 .
- Pickworth, G. (2001). Developing an instrument to identify MBCHB students’ approaches to learning. Higher education , 15(2), 140-145.
- Princeton University wordnet (online). 2010. Available WWW: http://wordnet.princeton.edu/ (Accessed 23 September 2010).
- Ramos, J. T. (2010). A study on schema activation, summarizing, and critical evaluation as predictors of writing proficiency. Research and review , 5, 31-39.
- Rauchas, S., Rosman, B., Konidaris, J. & Sanders, I. (2006). Language performance at high school and success in first year computer science. Proceedings of SIGCSE 2006, Houston.
- Shannon, C. E. (1948). A mathematical theory of communication. The bell system technical journal , 27(3), 379423.
- Slabbert, J. A. & Gouws, D. G. (2006). The quest for powerful learning environments in higher education. Higher education , 20(2), 336-351.
- Souter, C. W., Archer, M. & Rochford, K. (1992). Literal and inferential reading and comprehension skills. Higher education , 6(3), 30-35.
- Spady, W. G. (1971). Dropouts from higher education towards an empirical model. Interchange , 2(3), 38-62.
- Tshothsho, B. P. (2006). An investigation into English second language academic writing strategies for black students at the Eastern Cape Technikon (online). Available WWW: http://etd.uwc.ac.za/usrfiles/modules/etd/docs/etd_gen8Srv25Nme4_4626_1183703507.pdf, (Accessed 06/09/2010).
- Vinke, A. A. & Jochems, W. M. G. (1993). English proficiency and academic success in international postgraduate education. Higher education , 26, 275-285.
- Welman, J. C., Kruger, S. J. & Mitchell, B. C. (2005). Research methodology. Cape Town: Oxford University Press Southern Africa.
- Wessels, P. L. (2005).Critical information and communication technology and communication for professional accountants. Meditari accountancy research , 13(1), 87-103.
- Wong, D. S. N. & Chia, Y. (1996). English language, mathematics and first-year financial accounting performance: a research note. Accounting education , 5(2), 183-189.
Downloads
No downloads have been recorded for this article yet. Figures appear here once readers begin downloading the full text.
How to Cite
Share this article
License
Copyright (c) 2013 S. K. Naidoo, Hari Lall Garbharran (Author)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Author (s) should affirm that the material has not been published previously. It has not been submitted and it is not under consideration by any other journal. At the same time author (s) need to execute a publication permission agreement to assume the responsibility of the submitted content and any omissions and errors therein. After submission of revised paper in the light of suggestions of the reviewers, the editorial team edits and formats manuscripts to bring uniformity and standardization in published material.
This work will be licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) and under condition of the license, users are free to read, copy, remix, transform, redistribute, download, print, search or link to the full texts of articles and even build upon their work as long as they credit the author for the original work. Moreover, as per journal policy author (s) hold and retain copyrights without any restrictions.
Keywords
- Management Accounting Search this journal for Management Accounting (opens in a new tab)
- Financial Accounting Search this journal for Financial Accounting (opens in a new tab)
- Communication Search this journal for Communication (opens in a new tab)
- Urbanisation Search this journal for Urbanisation (opens in a new tab)
- Critical Thinking Skills Search this journal for Critical Thinking Skills (opens in a new tab)
- Language Proficiency Search this journal for Language Proficiency (opens in a new tab)
- Literacy Skills Search this journal for Literacy Skills (opens in a new tab)
Section
Published
Submissions
Have research to publish? Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies welcomes submissions.
Make a Submission