ABSTRACT

This study offers evidence of the impact of language background on the performance of students enrolled in an accounting study unit. It aims to quantify the effects of language background on performance in essay questions, compared to calculation questions requiring an application of procedures. Marks were collected from 2850 students. The results were examined using a two-way mixed ANOVA. A significant interaction was found. There was no significant difference in performance on calculation questions between those students with an English language background and students with a language background other than English. Students with an English language background performed better on essay questions. Cognitive load theory suggests that these differences in results are due to the burden of additional cognitive translation processes taking up restricted working memory resources for students with a language background other than English on questions with a heavy language component. Implications for accounting educators are discussed.

摘要

本研究提供了语言背景对注册会计学习单元的学生表现影响的证据。与需要应用程序的计算问题相比，它旨在量化语言背景对论文问题表现的影响。从 2850 名学生中收集了分数。使用双向混合方差分析检查结果。发现了显着的相互作用。具有英语语言背景的学生和具有非英语语言背景的学生在计算题上的表现没有显着差异。具有英语语言背景的学生在论文问题上表现更好。认知负荷理论表明，结果的这些差异是由于额外的认知翻译过程的负担，为具有英语以外语言背景的学生在涉及大量语言成分的问题上占用了有限的工作记忆资源。讨论了对会计教育者的影响。