José Luis Arquero

Communication apprehension in UK and Spanish business and accounting students

Distinguishes between communication apprehension (CA), the fear of actually communicating, and communication development, the ability to maintain and improve performance as a communicator. Indicates that CA needs to be addressed before progress can be made in developing the communication skills of graduates to which employers attach considerable importance. Reports the results of a study comparing levels of CA amongst business and accounting students in the UK and Spain, which confirm the high levels of CA found in North American students but also indicate differences which may be due to cultural and other factors. Considers implications of findings for curriculum design and staff development.

Using social network sites in Higher Education: an experience in business studies.

In the past 5 years, the impact of Web 2.0 in new generations has been remarkably significant. This paper reports on an experience in the use of social network sites (SNSs) to support student involvement with the subject and to develop basic skills. According to students’ opinion, the experience was deemed as positive. They considered that the experience contributed to a higher engagement with the subject and a deeper collaboration with other students and teaching staff. As a result, the majority of students would prefer the use of SNS as a first option if they had to enrol again in the subject. Regarding the relationships between academic performance and use of the SNS, two different student profiles were identified based on usage patterns of the platform. Students with a more intensive use of the site showed a significantly better performance than students with a low usage profile.

Accounting Students and Communication Apprehension: A Study of Spanish and UK Students

ABSTRACT Accounting is about measuring and communicating. Accounting bodies and employers have expressed opinions, which have been supported by research results, advocating that greater emphasis is placed on the development of communication skills throughout the education and training of accountants. Consequently, an increasing number of accounting programmes now include communication skills as educational objectives or learning outcomes, and have integrated activities into the curriculum specifically to develop these skills. It is important to recognise that certain factors can severely restrict the development of communication skills; a major factor is communication apprehension. Research suggests that the existence of high levels of communication apprehension will make efforts to improve communication skills ineffective. Previous research findings indicate that accounting students have high levels of communication apprehension. This paper compares and contrasts the levels and profiles of communication apprehension exhibited by accounting students at the (UK University) and those at the (ESP University). The levels of communication apprehension are also compared with those of students from other disciplines at the same institutions. The results confirm the high levels of communication apprehension in European accounting students. There are notable differences between the two countries however in certain underlying factors.

Preliminary validation of the Spanish version of the Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance Scale (MSTAT-II).

Despite widespread interest in ambiguity tolerance and other information-related individual differences, existing measures are conceptually dispersed and psychometrically weak. This paper presents the Spanish version of MSTAT-II, a short, stimulus-oriented, and psychometrically improved measure of an individuals orientation toward ambiguous stimuli. Results obtained reveal adequate reliability, validity, and temporal stability. These results support the use of MSTAT-II as an adequate measure of ambiguity tolerance.

Motives, expectations, preparedness and academic performance: a study of students of accounting at a spanish university

Understanding the motives, expectations and preparedness of students is important for accounting educators, as they seek to develop learning environments that promote high quality learning outcomes. This paper examines these factors with a sample of entry level students on a Business and Management degree at a Spanish university. The study also explores the influence of these antecedent variables on academic performance in the first accounting module. The data were collected using a Spanish version of the MEPU questionnaire, which was developed by Byrne and Flood (2005 and 2007). The analysis revealed that students are motivated by a combination of intrinsic and vocationally-oriented factors and feel well prepared for higher education. Interest in accounting, experience of the subject at school, academic self-confidence and university access scores were all significantly correlated with performance. Some interesting gender differences were identified and variation among regular and repeating students was also examined.

The Sound of Silence?: A Comparative Study of the Barriers to Communication Skills Development in Accounting and Engineering Students.

Employers often consider graduates to be unprepared for employment and lacking in vocational skills. A common demand from them is that the curriculum should include ‘communication skills’, as specific skills in their own right and also because of the central role that such skills can play in developing other desirable attributes. Current thinking in communication has indicated a split between communication apprehension and communication development. There are indications that techniques designed to develop communication skills will not resolve communication apprehension and that, if an individual has a high level of communication apprehension, these techniques will not result in improved communication performance. This paper compares and contrasts the levels and profiles of communication apprehension exhibited by accounting and engineering students. The implications of the findings are then discussed and the need for further research in the area of vocational choice is identified.

Communication apprehension and communication self-efficacy in accounting students

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to establish a link between communication apprehension and communication self-efficacy in accounting students. Design/methodology/approach - This is achieved by the use of two questionnaires jointly distributed to the students involved. The Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24) developed by McCroskey to measure oral communication apprehension[1] (OCA) and the instrument for written communication apprehension (WCA) developed by Daly and Miller and a questionnaire to measure communication self-efficacy. This had been developed using the guidelines set out by Bandura and was designed to measure two constructs: oral communication self-efficacy, and written communication self-efficacy. Findings - The two separate statistical tests to identify the connection between the two concepts both indicated the existence of a strong relationship between the two. This was shown not only in the overall relationship between communication apprehension and self-efficacy but also equally strongly in their constituent components. Practical implications - The existence of this relationship is important because it provides a possible development in terms of understanding the barrier to the development of communication skills and also indicates a possible redirection to alleviate and remove the barrier. In order for accountants to meet future challenges, there is substantial evidence that the development of communication skills will be vital. Originality/value - This paper draws the conclusion that in the future consideration needs to be given to incorporating into the pedagogy of accounting education, especially in those areas involving the development of communication skills, approaches that increase self-efficacy.

Vocation, Motivation and Approaches to Learning: A Comparative Study.

Purpose – The individual characteristics of students can have a strong influence on the success of the adopted innovations in terms of their transferability and sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to compare the motivations and approaches to learning on degrees with differing vocational components. Design/methodology/approach – Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and approaches to learning framework were used as theoretical background. Questionnaires were used to generate data. The sample was composed by 270 students enroled on differing degrees in term of motivation (accounting and nursing). Findings – The results reveal differences in the approaches to learning and motivation between nursing and accounting students. Nursing degree seem to attract more internally motivated students, presenting significantly higher scores in terms of deep approach and lower scores on surface approach. Significant relationships where found between motivation and approaches. Research limitations/implications – Data are...

Ambiguity tolerance levels in spanish accounting students: a comparative study

Abstract Background - Ambiguity is the perception of inadequate information arising from certain characteristics of a situation. In a situation that demands evaluation or choice, the perception of ambiguity is threatening and presents a cognitive challenge. Research has examined AT (Ambiguity Tolerance) levels and their influence on decision making in business and financial scenarios. Aims - This paper aims to investigate the AT levels of a sample of accounting students and to compare them with the AT levels of students on other social sciences degree courses. Instrument and Sample - The instrument used is the Spanish version of MSTAT-II (McLain, 2008). The sample is composed of students enrolled on various degree courses at a Spanish University (Universidad de Huelva). Results and implications - The results of the questionnaire present high levels of internal consistency with the sample. Accounting students are shown to present lower levels of AT than students enrolled on other social sciences degree courses. The implications for universities and education are discussed.

Autoconcepto en capacidades de comunicación y aprensión: un estudio comparativo de los estudiantes en los nuevos grados del área de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales

Resumen La comunicacion es una capacidad esencial en la profesion contable, como indican los posicionamientos sobre perfil profesional publicados y los resultados de la investigacion. Consecuentemente, numerosos programas estan incluyendo su desarrollo entre los objetivos academicos, bien como de forma transversal, bien de forma individual en asignaturas especificas. La aprension comunicativa constituye un factor potencialmente limitativo a estos esfuerzos de desarrollo. Dado que trabajos anteriores indican que los estudiantes de contabilidad tienen niveles de aprension comunicativa mas altos que otros estudiantes, el presente trabajo tiene como objetivo analizar los perfiles de aprension comunicativa y autoeficacia comunicativa en los nuevos grados