Abstract:

Accounting students often experience higher levels of communication apprehension than those studying other subjects. While oral communication apprehension has received considerable attention, written communication apprehension has received less but nonetheless deserves consideration, given that the general importance of written communication to the accounting profession is often underestimated by students and educators. Using the adapted written communication apprehension questionnaire (WCA-24) and analysis of student reflections on essay writing tasks, the current study provides insights into both the levels of apprehension towards writing felt by first undergraduates and the reasons why they feel apprehensive during such tasks.

The results show general levels of apprehension similar to those found in previous studies of written communication apprehension with small reductions in average apprehension by the end of the course. There is, however, considerable deviation from the average, including instances of increased apprehension. The analysis of reflections on writing tasks suggests a wide range of reasons for apprehension towards writing tasks with a lack of confidence in relevant communication skills being the most prominent. However, the apprehension appears to derive from a wider range of sources than apprehension towards writing per se.

Keywords:

Communication apprehension, written communication apprehension, reflection, essay writing.