The impact of writing assignments on accounting students' writing skills

Poor writing skills have been cited frequently as a major deficiency of accounting graduates. This study is the first in accounting education to provide empirical results concerning the impact of writing assignments on writing skills. In a study conducted over a two-semester period, writing assignments were integrated into two upper-level accounting courses, intermediate financial accounting and auditing, and writing consultants were utilized to assist in evaluating students' assignments. To detect and measure writing improvement, a multiple-choice writing skills test was used in the financial accounting course while holisticly scored essay quizzes were given in the auditing course. In both cases the empirical evidence supported the assertion that writing assignments enhanced accounting students' writing skills.