INTRODUCTION

The world’s changing economic development demands graduates equipped with generic skills such as communication. The new business environment also contributes to the expansion of the accountants’ role from just a stereotypical number Cruncher to a much wider range of duties (Jones & Abraham, 2007). The tasks perform by accountants go beyond bookkeeping. A study conducted by Jones and Abraham (2007) revealed that while employer demands graduates equipped with communication skill, it is found to be the most critical for accounting graduates. Communication skills are among the determining factor in getting information to the audiences (Aly & Islam, 2005) and it is essential to the business. However, there is a trait to communication which known as Communication Apprehension (CA). Mc Croskey, Fayer and Richmond (1985) defined communication apprehension as “individual’s level of fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons”. Most of studies show that communication apprehension exists among both accounting and non-accounting students (Tun Lee, 2011; Ameen, Jackson & Malgwi, 2010; Byrne, Flood & Shahanan, 2010; Hassall, Joyce, Arquero & DonosoAnes, 2006; Hassall, Joyce, Ottewill, Arquero & Donoso, 2000). This is somewhat worrying since

*Corresponding author: Shahida Shaharuddin E-mail: shahidashaharuddin@unisza.edu.my

communication apprehension is a problem for improving communication skills as demands by employers (Aly & Islam 2003). Before the remedies could be found, it is good to know the cause of this trait. The requirement of accounting students to improve communication skills can be fulfilled when the factors affecting communication apprehension can be identified. This paper mainly discusses on several factors that is believed to contribute to the level of communication apprehension by reviewing prior literatures. The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. The next section elaborates on the importance of communication in the profession. Section 3 discusses the factors that contribute to communication apprehension while section 4 provides some techniques or remedies to help reduce levels of communication apprehension. Section 5 concludes.

The Needs of Communication in the Profession

Demand in the workplace requires corresponding changes in knowledge, skills, and abilities needed by graduating university students to ultimately succeed in today’s jobs. Graduates entering the workplace require more than academic knowledge of their chosen discipline, as they need various skills and competencies including being effective communicators (Mitchell, Skinner & White, 2010). Moreover, Quible and Griffin (2007) and Gray (2010) asserted that despite having technical and managerial knowledge, good communication skills are crucial for success in

today’s dynamic business world. In fact, communication skill is among crucial element that employer concerned, most during a job interview (Peterson, 1997). The importance of oral communication in accounting has been well-documented by both academic researchers and practitioners (Blanthorne, Bhamornsiri & Guinn, 2005). The changes in the nature of the work undertaken by accountants led to the increasing importance of communication in accounting field. The role of professional accountants is no longer limited to serve as the bookkeepers and auditors, but it expands to be the strategists and advisors who involve in various activities including financial planning and structuring, general and strategic management and risk and change management (Jones, 2010; Jones & Abraham, 2007). To prosper in these roles, a professional accountant is expected to act as a communicator and should be able to transfer communication skills, along with other professional skills. Therefore, it is clear that accounting students should be equipped with this communication skill. At the same time, they have to enhance their ability to communicate eloquently to ensure their marketability in the job market. However, this skill may be hindered due to the existence of trait to the communication known as Communication Apprehension (CA). According to Blume (2013) communication apprehension can attenuate useful professional skills such as leadership and be one of key inhibitor to academic and professional success. There are many factors that contribute to communication apprehension. This paper will focus on several factors highlighted by previous researcher namely gender, course major and English competencies.

Factors Contribute to Communication Apprehension (CA) Gender

Due to the fact that male and female act different, some researchers intend to look at the correlation between gender and communication apprehension. Studies find that gender could influence the level of communication apprehension (Rafek, Ramli, Iksan, Harith & Che Abas, 2014; Byrne et al., 2010; McLean & Anderson, 2009; Wick-Nelson & Israel, 2006; Aly & Islam, 2005; Hassall et al., 2000). This is true when a study revealed that female have greater fear and develop higher levels of communication apprehension as compared to male (Rafek et al., 2014; Byrne et al., 2010; McLean & Anderson, 2009; Wick- Nelson & Israel, 2006; Hassall et al., 2000). One of the possible reasons is due to the confidence level. Under certain circumstances, female tend to feel easily vulnerable and therefore lead to the feeling of anxious and worried while male on the other hand, are more able to control themselves and overcome their unpleasant feelings (Wick-Nelson & Israel, 2006). However, in the testing Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA) theory relating to the overall communication apprehension and sub-score communication apprehension among final year accounting students. Ilias, Razak and Yunus (2013) find that only overall PRCA shows a significant difference of

communication apprehension among gender while the sub-score revealed otherwise.

Course Major

At the university level, the nature of both disciplines, namely accounting and non-accounting, place different exposure on communication skills. Different to non-accounting students who have been thoroughly exposed to the communication skills such as group presentations, group discussion and public speaking corresponded to the nature of the courses, accounting students on the other hand deals with numbers and figures. Not surprisingly, previously researched found that students in accounting majors are highly associated with high level of communication apprehension (Tun Lee, 2011; Fallatah & Talha, 2011; Hassall et al., 2006; Aly & Islam, 2003) and the worst is, this level of communication apprehension does not appear to decrease during the students’ academic program (Aly & Islam, 2003). People always perceived that communication skill is not really important in accounting field as accountants just play with numbers. This is supported by several studies who find that students choose accounting as their major course due to the perception that accounting profession requires little oral communication (Ameen et al., 2010; Fallatah & Talha, 2011). This is somehow answering why accounting students suffers high level of communication apprehension as compared to the other major course.

English Competencies

In Malaysia, most accounting courses offered at tertiary level of education use English as their medium of instruction. Even when they are graduates, employers tend to hire people that can communicate in English. However, a study by Isarji and Zainol (2008) reported that Malaysian employer to rate English competency as the most critical skill lacking among graduates. This is true when one of the factors influencing unemployment among graduates in Malaysia is believed due to poor command of English (Razak, Yusof, Syazana, Jaafar & Talib, 2014). Study revealed that language barrier can be one of the factors that contribute to the level of communication apprehension (Rafek et al., 2014; Sabri & Yu Qin, 2014; Tom, Johari, Rozaimi & Siti Huzaimah, 2013). In fact, Malaysia graduates still struggle to speak English and therefore, they become apprehensive when are required to communicate in English language. Perhaps, the anxiety stem from the experience of choosing the right word or sentences to be used in speaking. Moreover, they afraid that people may have difficulty understanding them, or they may face difficulty understanding others (Rafek et al., 2014).

Techniques to Reduce CA

Some prior researchers provide several techniques to help reduce level of communication apprehension. Stanga and Ladd (1990) highlight the important to differentiate between communication apprehension and communication skill before applied any