With writing skills receiving increased emphasis in the accounting curriculum, edu
cators need to explore the potential barriers to writing that students may experience.
The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether accounting majors
have higher levels of writing apprehension than students in other majors. Also stud
ied was whether gender, age, and grades in Freshman Composition were related to
the level of writing anxiety. A sample of students responded to items on the Writing
Apprehension Test to measure their writing apprehension. The students also identi
fied their gender, age, major, and grades in Freshman Composition.
Significant differences do exist in level of writing apprehension based on
grades in Freshman Composition but not based on a student's age or gender
choice. Most important, accounting majors did show significantly greater appre
hension than non-accounting majors.
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