Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Accounting - Language'

Purpose: Accounting practices vary not only across firms, but also across countries, reflecting the respective legal and cultural background. Attempts at harmonization therefore continue to be rebuffed. The purpose of this paper is to argue that different wordings in national laws, and different interpretations of similar wordings in national laws, can be explained by taking recourse to the philosophy of language, referring particularly to Searle and Wittgenstein. Design/methodology/approach: The example of the substance over form principle, investigated in seven countries, is particularly suitable for this analysis. It is known in all accounting jurisdictions, but still has very different roots in different European countries, with European and international influences conflicting, which is reflected in the different wording of the principle from one country to the next, and the different socially constructed realities associated with those wordings. Findings: This paper shows that, beyond accounting practices, the legal and cultural background of a country affects the wording of national law itself. The broad conclusion is that different socially constructed realities might tend to resist any attempt at harmonized socially constructed words. Originality/value: The paper contributes to the debate surrounding the possible homogenization of accounting regulations, illustrating the theory of the social construction of both "reality" and "language" on the specific application of one common principle to various Member State environments.

The financial reporting world has recently faced a number of changes due to the impact of the Internet. Today, the revolution in business communication is accelerating and more data is being shared by a large number of participant users, aside from the company’s internal management, including: clients, business partners, financial market analysts, investors and government regulators. These changes have led to the development of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), which is an opensource Internet-based financial reporting language. XBRL is an extension of eXtensible Markup Language (XML) that provides machinereadable tags for each individual data element in each financial statement. XBRL is likely to be used as a platform that offers universal standards for defining business information. XBRL can ease the preparation, analysis, and exchange of business information along each part of financial reporting supply chain and across companies around the world. It can also increase the efficiency for all related users of business data. This study has analysed the accuracy of XBRL outputs by conducting a literature review and by checking the accuracy of the real company XBRL filing submissions that are published publicly. This study has found that there were many errors in these public XBRL documents that were caused either through a few basic common errors or from mistakes in related financial information. Therefore, this study has aimed to discover any possible causes of errors in XBRL filings. It has also aimed to find a way to detect those errors. Consequently, this study conducted a semantic checking system that aimed to detect XBRL errors and so enhance the accuracy of financial statements. To develop the semantic checking system, the results of an error finding analysis were combined, filtered, and classified into each category of errors, including the integration of accounting, business, and technology knowledge to fulfil the system. A process flow for the semantic checking system was created to help understand both the method and the rule. The rules were then set up to determine the different aspect of errors, which had a different method to manage and reduce errors. The semantic checking system was created in terms of the information specification of the XBRL filings. The system was designed to be more practical for the users by presenting the relationship between the real data and accounting practice. Moreover, a prototype was produced and the case study method was applied to prove the development of the system. This step was able to ensure the accuracy of the semantic checking system. Finally, this semantic checking system has been shown to improve the accuracy of XBRL filings. It also emphasises the importance of employing XBRL preparers who are aware of all of the possible issues that may arise while preparing an XBRL-based filing submission.

In this work, speaker characteristic modeling has been applied in the fields of automatic speech recognition (ASR) and automatic speaker verification (ASV). In ASR, a key problem is that acoustic mismatch between training and test conditions degrade classification per- formance. In this work, a child exemplifies a speaker not represented in training data and methods to reduce the spectral mismatch are devised and evaluated. To reduce the acoustic mismatch, predictive modeling based on spectral speech transformation is applied. Follow- ing this approach, a model suitable for a target speaker, not well represented in the training data, is estimated and synthesized by applying vocal tract predictive modeling (VTPM). In this thesis, the traditional static modeling on the utterance level is extended to dynamic modeling. This is accomplished by operating also on sub-utterance units, such as phonemes, phone-realizations, sub-phone realizations and sound frames.

Initial experiments shows that adaptation of an acoustic model trained on adult speech significantly reduced the word error rate of ASR for children, but not to the level of a model trained on children’s speech. Multi-speaker-group training provided an acoustic model that performed recognition for both adults and children within the same model at almost the same accuracy as speaker-group dedicated models, with no added model complexity. In the analysis of the cause of errors, body height of the child was shown to be correlated to word error rate.

A further result is that the computationally demanding iterative recognition process in standard VTLN can be replaced by synthetically extending the vocal tract length distribution in the training data. A multi-warp model is trained on the extended data and recognition is performed in a single pass. The accuracy is similar to that of the standard technique.

A concluding experiment in ASR shows that the word error rate can be reduced by ex- tending a static vocal tract length compensation parameter into a temporal parameter track. A key component to reach this improvement was provided by a novel joint two-level opti- mization process. In the process, the track was determined as a composition of a static and a dynamic component, which were simultaneously optimized on the utterance and sub- utterance level respectively. This had the principal advantage of limiting the modulation am- plitude of the track to what is realistic for an individual speaker. The recognition error rate was reduced by 10% relative compared with that of a standard utterance-specific estimation technique.

The techniques devised and evaluated can also be applied to other speaker characteristic properties, which exhibit a dynamic nature.

An excursion into ASV led to the proposal of a statistical speaker population model. The model represents an alternative approach for determining the reject/accept threshold in an ASV system instead of the commonly used direct estimation on a set of client and impos- tor utterances. This is especially valuable in applications where a low false reject or false ac- cept rate is required. In these cases, the number of errors is often too few to estimate a reli- able threshold using the direct method. The results are encouraging but need to be verified on a larger database.

Pf-Star
KOBRA

Cloud computing has become an established paradigm for running services on external infrastructure that dynamically allocates virtually unlimited capacity. This paradigm creates a new scenario for the deployment of applications and information technology (IT) services. In this model, complete applications and machine infrastructure are offered to users, who are charged only for the resources they consume. Thus, cloud resources are offered through service abstractions classified into three main categories: Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). In IaaS, computing resources are offered as virtual machines to the end user. The aim to offer such unlimited resources necessitates distributing these virtual machines through multiple data centers. This distribution makes harder to fulfill a number of requirements including security, reliability, availability, and accounting. Accounting refers to how resources are recorded, accounted for, and charged. Even for a single cloud provider this task is hard, and it becomes more difficult for a federation of cloud computing, or federated cloud, in which a cloud provider dynamically outsources resources to other providers in response to demand variation. Thus, a cluster of clouds shares heterogeneous resources, requiring greater effort to manage and accurately account for the distributed resources. Some earlier research has addressed the development of platforms for federated clouds but without considering the accounting requirement. This dissertation presents a framework for charging IaaS with a focus on federated cloud. In order to gather information about this topic area and to generate guidelines for building the framework, we applied a systematic mapping study. This dissertation also presents an initial validation of the tool through a case study, showing evidence that the requirements generated through the mapping study were fulfilled by the framework and presenting indications of its feasibility in a real cloud service scenario
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A Computação na Nuvem se tornou um paradigma consumado para executar serviços em infraestruturas externas, onde de uma forma virtual a capacidade praticamente ilimitada pode ser alocada dinamicamente. Este paradigma estabelece um novo cenário para a implantação de aplicações e serviços de TI. Neste modelo, desde aplicações completas até infraestrutura de máquinas são ofertadas a usuários, que são cobrados apenas pelo uso dos recursos consumidos. Desta forma, os bens de consumo da nuvem são ofertados através de abstrações de serviços, onde atualmente são citadas três principais categorias: Software como Serviço (SaaS), Plataforma como Serviço (PaaS) e Infraestrutura como Serviço (IaaS). No caso do IaaS são oferecidos recursos computacionais na forma de Máquinas Virtuais para o cliente final. Para atingir o aspecto ilimitado de recursos é necessário distribuir estas Máquinas Virtuais por vários Data Centers. Esta distribuição dificulta atender uma série de requisitos como Segurança, Confiabilidade, Disponibilidade e a Tarifação pelos recursos consumidos. A Tarifação refere-se a como os recursos são registrados, contabilizados e cobrados. Mesmo no caso de um único provedor esta tarefa não é fácil e existe um contexto em que esta dificuldade se torna ainda maior, conhecida como Federação de Computação na Nuvem ou também chamadas de Nuvens Federadas. Nuvens Federadas ocorrem quando um provedor de Computação na Nuvem terceiriza recursos dinamicamente para outros provedores em resposta à variação da demanda. Desta forma ocorre um aglomerado de nuvens, porém seus recursos são heterogêneos, acarretando num maior esforço para gerenciar os recursos distribuídos e por consequência para a Tarifação. Neste contexto foram identificadas pesquisas nesta área sobre plataformas para Nuvens Federadas, que não abordam o requisito de Tarifação. Esta dissertação apresenta um framework voltado à tarifação de Infraestrutura como Serviço com foco em Nuvens Federadas. Objetivando colher informações sobre esta área e consequentemente gerar insumos para fundamentar as decisões na construção do framework, foi aplicado um Estudo de Mapeamento Sistemático. Esta dissertação também apresenta uma validação inicial da ferramenta, através de um estudo experimental, mostrando indícios de que os requisitos gerados pelo Mapeamento Sistemático foram atendidos, bem como será viável a aplicação da solução por provedores de serviços de nuvem em um cenário real.

Computer and telecommunications technologies are commonly thought to provide solutions to the quantitative and qualitative demands on modern financial reporting. Extensible Business Reporting Language (‘XBRL’) is an emergent technology that is purported to ‘democratise’ financial reporting. This investigation of whether XBRL democratises financial reporting is undertaken from a constructivist perspective. An interpretive research framework is regarded as appropriate to the current maturity XBRL. XBRL-knowledgeable individuals are asked whether they agree with the assertion that 'XBRL democratises financial reporting'. In addition, their perceptions of each of 'XBRL', 'financial reporting' and 'democratisation' are elicited in order to assess whether they have a common interpretation of the assertion. Sixty-seven percent of survey respondents profess to agree with the assertion, 13% explicitly disagree and 20% are non-committal. However, interpretation and analysis of each of the concepts reveal statistically significant relationships between responses to the assertion and interpretations of its constituent concepts. It is concluded that respondents are not agreeing and disagreeing about the same phenomena. This thesis illustrates that the rhetoric of technological determinism does not yet describe the reality of the relationship between financial reporting and XBRL. However, as XBRL matures, the approach adopted in this thesis may be re-applied to monitor perceptions of XBRL over time.

Language Arts
Ed.D.
Many researchers have highlighted the need for students to have a willingness to communicate (WTC) in second and foreign language classrooms. WTC is important because it is believed that WTC leads to eventual communication both inside and outside the classroom. Previous research into WTC has centered mainly on the use of structural models and trait, self-reported measurements of WTC, but recent research has shown that WTC is also heavily dependent on the situation. However, very few studies recognize this and have, thus, not employed situational measurements of WTC. After a thorough review of WTC literature, 13 pertinent constructs were modified to reflect the situation in the foreign language classroom. These were related to constructs of the classroom, beliefs about communication; self-determined motivation; self-perceived competence; communication anxiety and willingness to communicate. A preliminary study employing exploratory factor analysis and Rasch analysis, followed by a main study conducted with and confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis were undertaken with first- and second-year Japanese university students. The factor analysis was used to investigate the underlying structures of the factors and the Rasch analysis was used to determine fit, category functioning and dimensionality. Nine reliable and unidimensional factors were brought forward from the main study, which were Classroom Efficacy Factor and Classroom Affective Factor as the two classroom factors; Intrinsic Motivation for Communication, Introjected Regulation for Communication and External Regulation for Communication as the three self-determined motivation constructs, and finally, Self-Perceived Competence, Communicative Anxiety and Willingness to Communicate split in two subconstructs of pair/work and whole class activities. The second half the study was the formulation of a structural equation model using the above constructs to predict situational WTC. The model also included an often under-utilized resource, the teacher, who assessed the learners’ actual communication to identify if WTC leads to language use. All the fit indices in the final model (N = 376) were good, and the model included three additional paths. The model indicated that classroom constructs led to motivation and self-perceived competence, which predicted confidence. Motivation led directly to WTC and indirectly to WTC through confidence. Lastly, WTC predicted actual communication. The constructs in this study can be applied in other studies of situational WTC. This study helps to both expand our understanding of constructs affecting situational WTC and actual communication, and provides more validity to the construct of situational WTC. It also reaffirms the importance of what happens in the classroom, which is main arena for communication in the EFL setting.
Temple University--Theses

UK Higher Education is considered to be at the forefront of equality and diversity policy and practice, yet its staff profile is characterised by persistent gender (among other types of) imbalance. This thesis investigates this paradox, focusing on the under-researched professional and support services staff, and particularly female-dominated administrative and secretarial occupations. In contrast to the few previous studies on the topic, this PhD project takes a discursive perspective to explore this paradox. In other words, it examines how university professional and support staff discursively account for the persistent gender imbalance in their sector, with a particular focus on how they talk themselves out of acting to change the status quo, i.e. on discursive barriers to change. A UK case-study university, whose staff gender-imbalanced profile is representative of the national picture, was selected as the epistemological site. Focus groups were conducted with female and male staff in administrative and secretarial occupations; interviews were carried out with managers who had progressed internally from administrative and secretarial roles, and with former employees of the case-study university. Data were analysed and interpreted from a critical realist, feminist perspective. Discourse analysis was conducted, with a specific focus on the functions, effects and implications of participants’ situated use of gendered discourses and discursive constructions, and co-production of patterned accounts. This thesis takes a much-needed step beyond deconstruction and critique of discursive barriers, towards promoting discursive reconstruction and change. It highlights participants’ potentially emancipatory uses of counter-discourses, and provides recommendations for discursive change.

This study investigates the specificity of students' language and communication needs in the related disciplines of business, economics and accounting in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context in Israel. The objective was to identify the convergences and divergences of their perceived needs in order to consider how students should be prepared during their tertiary education for these needs, and in particular whether the same course can meet the needs of students in neighbouring disciplines. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with subject specialists in the three disciplines, workplace representatives, third-year students and Business English course providers, comparing the perceived specific language and communication needs of business, economics and accounting students for short-term academic purposes and long-term professional purposes. Qualitative analysis of the interviews reveals that differences between these disciplines for EFL courses extend beyond technical vocabulary and topics of readings, and include tasks and genres, with the most unexpected findings in the field of accounting. Results suggest that business, economics and accounting should not be regarded as one discipline category, and the English course should be customised for each of these disciplines with greater emphasis on long-term professional needs. This research contributes to the specificity debate in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in favour of provision of English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP) courses.

Although metaphor has been a subject of study for centuries, few experimental studies have attempted to demonstrate the persuasive power of messages containing metaphors. Moreover, it is rarely acknowledged that metaphors and analogies can serve as valuable tools to tailor messages to the values of culturally diverse populations. This dissertation outlines the utility of incorporating metaphors and analogies within persuasive messages and advances a method for generating culturally appropriate metaphors and analogies. The literature on the neurophysiological basis of figurative language processing is reviewed in an attempt to uncover the origin of the persuasive power of metaphor. This literature leads to the development of the concept of Literal Mindedness as a way to explain individual differences in responses to figurative language. The Literal Mindedness Inventory is developed as part of this dissertation research, and its convergent validity with Need for Cognition also is established. Finally, an experiment was conducted to test the effect of metaphors and analogies and Literal Minedness on persuasion. To assess the effect of metaphors and analogies on the reception of persuasive health messages (HIV prevention/pro-condom messages), nine messages representing three levels of metaphors and analogies were tested on outcome measures such as fear, efficacy, message evaluation, and knowledge and attitudes. The hypotheses advanced in this study were partially supported, and form the basis of a number of recommendations for future research.

I samband med en omorganisation av hälso- och sjukvården i Region Gävleborg där bland annat fyra divisioner bildades infördes det balanserade styrkortet som styrverktyg i verksamheten. Styrkortet var ett intressant verktyg för hälso- och sjukvården då det inkluderar såväl finansiella som icke-finansiella aspekter. Syftet med studien är att öka förståelsen för hur det balanserade styrkortet anpassas inom offentliga hälso- och sjukvårdsorganisationer med avseende på om det bidrar till ett gemensamt språk och en helhetsbild av verksamheten.   Denna undersökning gjordes utifrån en kvalitativ fallstudiedesign inom Region Gävleborgs hälso- och sjukvårdsorganisationer. Undersökningen utfördes med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer där fokus legat på chefer och ansvariga personer inom den berörda verksamheten. Den teoretiska referensramen inleddes med allmän forskning kring styrkortet för att sedan smalas av till en mer anpassad bild av styrkortet inom studiens valda bransch.   Resultatet visade att styrkortet medförde ett gemensamt språk samt att kommunikationen mellan de tre organisatoriska nivåerna spelade en central roll för en fungerande verksamhet. Det framgick även ur resultatet att styrkortet kunde medföra en helhetsbild över verksamheten med förutsättning att man vet hur styrkortet ska tillämpas och mätas. Det kan även konstateras att det finansiella perspektivet inte utesluts, utan att det istället utmärker sig som en summa av de övriga perspektivens resultat.   Eftersom studien bygger på en deduktiv ansats avslutas den med en analys där teorin kopplas ihop med det insamlade empiriska materialet för att på så sätt kunna urskilja huruvida dessa stämmer överrens med varandra.   Studien avslutas med en slutsats där innehållet summeras ihop och utformar studiens bidrag samt svarar på syftet.

Quando tratada como a linguagem dos negócios, a Contabilidade é tida como um sistema de códigos que permite a comunicação entre a administração da empresa e os usuários reais ou potenciais das informações geradas pela primeira. Essa proposta torna-se ainda mais relevante quando tanto a doutrina como os órgãos regulamentadores apontam que comunicar é posto como o próprio objetivo da Contabilidade. A Contabilidade também é reconhecida como uma manifestação linguística por apresentar aspectos em comum com outras linguagens. Dentro desse contexto, diversos estudos propõem a utilização de teorias semióticas e da comunicação para a realização de pesquisas contábeis, não apenas com relação às informações numéricas das demonstrações financeiras, mas também a terminologia, os textos, gráficos e imagens utilizados nessas demonstrações e em outras narrativas que compõem o disclosure de uma entidade. Estudos empíricos sobre essa abordagem são encontrados desde a década de 1970 no exterior, e há pelo menos uma década de forma mais frequente no Brasil. Sendo assim, este trabalho teve como objetivo realizar um review de trabalhos publicados em periódicos, congressos brasileiros e teses e dissertações defendidas em programas de pós-graduação avaliados pela Capes para responder ao seguinte problema de pesquisa: Qual o estado da arte da pesquisa em Contabilidade no Brasil fundamentada em teorias Semióticas e da Comunicação? Foram coletados 22 trabalhos, num total de 18 inéditos, que foram segregados em seis categorias, conforme o problema de pesquisa proposto: teórico, compreensão de termos técnicos, evolução de significados, compreensibilidade de relatórios, fidelidade de representação e influência no preço das ações. Os trabalhos teóricos sugerem a utilização de teorias semióticas e da comunicação para investigar se a Contabilidade atinge seus objetivos. Geralmente, tais trabalhos tratam da compreensibilidade associada ao nível de sofisticação do usuário e da fidelidade de representação associada à relevância da informação. Os trabalhos empíricos encontraram evidências de que os usuários não compreendem alguns termos utilizados nos relatórios contábeis, ou têm concepções diferentes acerca deles, que as narrativas contábeis podem ser consideradas de difícil leitura e que o repertório e a formação dos usuários das demonstrações contábeis afetam a compreensibilidade, que há presença de gerenciamento de impressões na forma como os relatórios narrativos são elaborados e que o pessimismo das narrativas contábeis influencia o valor de mercado das empresas. Também foi constatada a importância da evolução histórica da utilização de um termo ou expressão para se entender o conceito ou significado que a sociedade atribui a ele. No que concerne às metodologias utilizadas, observou-se uma grande variedade de recursos inferenciais estatísticos empregados para abordar os problemas de pesquisa. As técnicas mais utilizadas foram o questionário e a análise de conteúdo (temática e sintática) muitas vezes em conjunto com técnicas de inferência estatística. Os trabalhos teóricos são os que mais fizeram referências às teorias semiótica e da comunicação, entretanto os trabalhos empíricos não tratam necessariamente dessas teorias, apesar de frequentemente abordarem a contabilidade como uma forma de linguagem, ou como importante para o processo de comunicação da administração com os usuários. Por fim, foram sugeridos alguns direcionadores para as pesquisas nacionais. As possibilidades de pesquisas têm o potencial de serem ampliadas, seja pela variedade de narrativas contábeis passíveis de investigação, seja pelo objeto de estudo, que não necessariamente deve recair sobre as narrativas, seja pela perspectiva sobre a qual o objeto de estudo é pesquisado. Há também a possibilidade de explorar melhor o arcabouço teórico das ciências semióticas e da comunicação, que parece ser subutilizado em alguns estudos.
Approached as business language, Accounting is considered a code system which allows communication between company administration and the actual or potential users of the information generated by the first. This proposition becomes more relevant when both the doctrine and regulation organs point out that communicating is itself the purpose of Accounting. Accounting is also recognized as a linguistic manifestation as it presents common aspects with other languages. Inserted in this context, several studies propose the use of semiotic and communication theories to accomplish accounting research, considering not only numeric information of financial statements but also terminology, texts, graphs and images employed in these demonstrations and in other narratives that compound the disclosure of a corporation. There have been empirical studies on this approach since the 1970s, and research on this field has been done frequently in Brazil at least for a decade. Thus, this work aims to accomplish a review of articles published in journals, Brazilian congresses, theses and dissertations presented in graduation programs evaluated by Capes to answer the following question: what is the state-of-art of Accounting research in Brazil based upon semiotic and communication theories? Twenty-two works have been collected, among these eighteen unpublished works, which have been divided into six categories, according to the research problem in focus, being them: theoretical, technical terminology comprehension, meaning evolution, reports understandability, faithful representation and influence on stock prices. Theoretical works suggest the use of semiotic and communication concepts to investigate if Accounting reaches its aims. Such works generally study comprehensibility associated with the level of sophistication of users and faithful representation linked to information relevance. Empirical works found evidence that users do not comprehend some terms employed on accounting reports, or still hold different conceptions about them. In addition accounting narratives can be considered difficult to read and knowledge and schooling of users affect the comprehensibility. Also, there are evidences of manipulation on the way narrative reports are elaborated and pessimism in accounting narratives influence the market value of companies. It has also been identified the significance of historical evolution of a term or expression to understand the concept or meaning that society applies to it. Concerning the methodology employed, there has been observed a great variety of inferential statistic resources employed to approach the research questioning. Questionnaire and contents analysis (both thematic and syntactic) were the techniques more frequently used, often associated to methods of statistic inference. Theoretical works have more often referred to semiotic and communication theories. However, empirical works do not approach such theories themselves although they do approach Accounting as a language or as somewhat relevant to communication process between administration and users. At last, some guidance to national research has been provided. Possibilities for research have potential to be enlarged, both for the variety of accounting narratives that can be investigated or for the study focus, which may not concentrate on narratives or still for the perspective of the research. There is also the possibility of studying the theoretical framework on semiotic and communication sciences more deeply, which seem to be underutilized in some studies.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES
This study aims to apprehend the language perspectives emanated by the official, institutional and professional spheres as well as those pointed out by professionals and students in the accounting area. The theoretical background is based on studies of language perspectives and curricular theories. This research is inserted in the framework of qualitative research since the core of this methodological approach is to study the world always from the perspective of social actors, situated historically, in interaction. The analysed school context is a Private Higher Education Institution, located in the city of São Paulo where the teacher-researcher works. The construction of this research includes the collection of professional, official and institutional documents, namely: professional accounting examination, the decrees referring to the course of Accounting Sciences and the current national examination to evaluate students’ performance - Enade, Political Pedagogical Project and syllabus of Business Writing disciplines of Accounting Sciences graduation. The research also relies on the production of data from a questionnaire applied for the eighth semester class and interviews with three students and four professionals in the accounting area. The data are analysed, considering their thematic content evidenced by the linguistic units that compose them. The results allowed to organize three groups of texts based in the perspectives of language and curricular theories. The first group revealed contours referring to the monological perspectives of language and traditional curricular theories. The second one showed a hybrid view regarding to the perspective of language and curricular vision. The third and last group of texts presented a dialogical perspective of language and curricular vision with a tendency towards critical theories
Este estudo objetiva apreender as perspectivas de linguagem emanadas pelas esferas oficial, institucional e profissional na área contábil. O recorte teórico está fundamentado nas perspectivas filosóficas de linguagem e nas teorias curriculares que sustentam tais visões de linguagem. Esta investigação está inserida no quadro da pesquisa qualitativa uma vez que o cerne dessa abordagem metodológica é estudar o mundo sempre a partir da perspectiva dos atores sociais, situados historicamente, em interação. O contexto escolar analisado é uma Instituição de Ensino Superior particular localizada na cidade de São Paulo onde a professora-pesquisadora trabalha. Para a construção metodológica deste estudo, contou-se com a pesquisa bibliográfica acerca do percurso do ensino de português no curso de Ciências Contábeis no País, assim como com a coleta de vários documentos oficiais e institucionais, a saber: decretos referentes ao curso de Ciências Contábeis, prova do Exame Nacional de Desempenho dos Estudantes, prova do Exame de Suficiência Contábil, Projeto Político-Pedagógico e ementas da disciplina de Redação Empresarial I e II do Curso de Ciências Contábeis da instituição focal. A pesquisa também foi organizada pela produção de dados realizada a partir de (a) um questionário aplicado em uma turma de oitavo semestre da instituição focal; (b) entrevista realizada com três alunos do segundo semestre da mesma instituição e (c) entrevista com quatro profissionais da área contábil. Todos os dados foram analisados sob a luz do conteúdo temático. Os resultados apontaram três grupos de textos, que se organizaram quanto à(s) perspectiva(s) de linguagem e de currículo. O primeiro grupo revelou contornos referentes às perspectivas monológicas de linguagem e visão tradicional de currículo. O segundo evidenciou uma visão híbrida a respeito das perspectivas de linguagem e de currículo. O terceiro e último grupo apresentou perspectiva dialógica de linguagem e visão de currículo com tendência às teorias críticas

Пољопривредна дјелатност одвија се у динамичном окружењу (климатске промјене, смањење обрадивих површина, глобализација тржишта, итд.) што сеУ раду је дефинисан интегрални систем рачуноводственог информисања у области пољопривреде, у оквиру кога се издвајају два основна нивоа, односно подсистема. Микро ниво се односи на изградњу оптималног система књиговодствене евиденције и продуковање рачуноводствених информација на пољопривредном газдинству. Макро ниво обухвата прикупљање рачуноводствених информација са газдинстава, њихову обраду, сумирање и презентовање свим заинтересованим корисницима. Сваки од ових нивоа, односно подсистема, одликује се комплексношћу и свеобухватношћу и истовремено су међусобно повезани у јединствен систем рачоводственог информисања. Није могуће доносити квалитетне одлуке на макро нивоу, које треба да омогуће развој газдинстава и пољопривреде у цјелини, без квалитетних производно-економских информација са самих газдинстава. И обрнуто, тешко је доносити адекватне управљачке одлуке и остваривати добре резултате на газдинствима, ако се не уважава цјелина агросектора (структурни проблеми, стање у окружењу, глобални трендови кретања понуде, тражње, цијене на тржиштима набавке и продаје, итд.). Пољопривредни произвођачи појединачно, не могу да сагледају ове проблеме на адекватан начин. Управо је задатак креатора аграрне политике, да одговарајућим мјерама (подстицајима, информацијама, савјетима, итд.) омогуће газдинствима што повољније услове пословања, и да правилно усмјеравају развој агросектора на дуги рок.непосредно одражава на резултате пословања пољопривредних газдинстава. Ефикасно управљање газдинствима, засновано на квалитетним производно-финансијским информацијама које продукује систем континуиране рачуноводствене евиденције пословних активности, представља предуслов опстанка и развоја сваког газдинства појединачно, односно агросектора у цјелини.У дисертацији су представљена нова теоријско-концепцијска и методолошко-апликативна рјешења и поступци за успостављање интегралног система рачуноводственог информисања у области пољопривреде. Дефинисани интегрални систем рачуноводственог информисања у области пољопривреде карактерише универзалност, односно примјенљивост у различитим државама, наравно уз одговарајућа методолошко-апликативна прилагођавања специфичним условима у свакој земљи. Успостављањем интегралног система рачуноводственог информисања у пракси, несумљиво ће доносити низ користи свим субјектима који су повезани са пољопривредном производњом: пољопривредни произвођачи, савјетодавна служба, научно-образовне установе и организације, министарство и друге државне институције, струковна удружења произвођача из области агросектора (коморе, кластери) и др.Резултати дисертације посједују значајну теоријску, методолошку и апликативну вриједност и значајно доприносе развоју теорије и праксе у области пољопривредног рачуноводства, а тиме и унапређењу аграрног сектора у цјелини. 
Poljoprivredna djelatnost odvija se u dinamičnom okruženju (klimatske promjene, smanjenje obradivih površina, globalizacija tržišta, itd.) što seU radu je definisan integralni sistem računovodstvenog informisanja u oblasti poljoprivrede, u okviru koga se izdvajaju dva osnovna nivoa, odnosno podsistema. Mikro nivo se odnosi na izgradnju optimalnog sistema knjigovodstvene evidencije i produkovanje računovodstvenih informacija na poljoprivrednom gazdinstvu. Makro nivo obuhvata prikupljanje računovodstvenih informacija sa gazdinstava, njihovu obradu, sumiranje i prezentovanje svim zainteresovanim korisnicima. Svaki od ovih nivoa, odnosno podsistema, odlikuje se kompleksnošću i sveobuhvatnošću i istovremeno su međusobno povezani u jedinstven sistem račovodstvenog informisanja. Nije moguće donositi kvalitetne odluke na makro nivou, koje treba da omoguće razvoj gazdinstava i poljoprivrede u cjelini, bez kvalitetnih proizvodno-ekonomskih informacija sa samih gazdinstava. I obrnuto, teško je donositi adekvatne upravljačke odluke i ostvarivati dobre rezultate na gazdinstvima, ako se ne uvažava cjelina agrosektora (strukturni problemi, stanje u okruženju, globalni trendovi kretanja ponude, tražnje, cijene na tržištima nabavke i prodaje, itd.). Poljoprivredni proizvođači pojedinačno, ne mogu da sagledaju ove probleme na adekvatan način. Upravo je zadatak kreatora agrarne politike, da odgovarajućim mjerama (podsticajima, informacijama, savjetima, itd.) omoguće gazdinstvima što povoljnije uslove poslovanja, i da pravilno usmjeravaju razvoj agrosektora na dugi rok.neposredno odražava na rezultate poslovanja poljoprivrednih gazdinstava. Efikasno upravljanje gazdinstvima, zasnovano na kvalitetnim proizvodno-finansijskim informacijama koje produkuje sistem kontinuirane računovodstvene evidencije poslovnih aktivnosti, predstavlja preduslov opstanka i razvoja svakog gazdinstva pojedinačno, odnosno agrosektora u cjelini.U disertaciji su predstavljena nova teorijsko-koncepcijska i metodološko-aplikativna rješenja i postupci za uspostavljanje integralnog sistema računovodstvenog informisanja u oblasti poljoprivrede. Definisani integralni sistem računovodstvenog informisanja u oblasti poljoprivrede karakteriše univerzalnost, odnosno primjenljivost u različitim državama, naravno uz odgovarajuća metodološko-aplikativna prilagođavanja specifičnim uslovima u svakoj zemlji. Uspostavljanjem integralnog sistema računovodstvenog informisanja u praksi, nesumljivo će donositi niz koristi svim subjektima koji su povezani sa poljoprivrednom proizvodnjom: poljoprivredni proizvođači, savjetodavna služba, naučno-obrazovne ustanove i organizacije, ministarstvo i druge državne institucije, strukovna udruženja proizvođača iz oblasti agrosektora (komore, klasteri) i dr.Rezultati disertacije posjeduju značajnu teorijsku, metodološku i aplikativnu vrijednost i značajno doprinose razvoju teorije i prakse u oblasti poljoprivrednog računovodstva, a time i unapređenju agrarnog sektora u cjelini. 
Agricultural activity takes place in a dynamic environment (climate change, reduction of arable land, the globalization of markets, etc.) which is directly reflected on the operating results of the agricultural holdings. Effective management of agricultural holdings based on the quality production-financial informations (produced by the accounting system of continuous records), represents a prerequisite for the survival and development of each individual agricultural holding and the whole agricultural sector.In the thesis is defined an integral system of accounting informing in agriculutral sector, which has two levels or subsystems. is an imperative. Micro level refers the construction of the optimal system of accounting records, generating of accounting informations about agricultural holdings. Macro level includes the collection of accounting informations about holdings, their processing, summarizing and presentation to all interested users. Each of these levels, or subsystems, are also characterized by complexity, comprehensiveness, and both are closely related and mutually conditioned. There is no possibility to make good decisions at the macro level (which should enable the development of holdings and agriculture as a whole), without quality economical and production informations from the agricultural holdings. Conversely, it is difficult to make appropriate management decisions and achieve good results on the agricultural holdings, if there is no respect for the whole agricultural sector (structural problems, environment, global trends in supply, demand and price in the market purchases and sales, etc). Agricultural producers individually, of course, can not perceive this and estimate adequately, but the task of agricultural creators, through the appropriate measures (incentives, informations, advices, etc), is to provide to the agricultural producers the most favorable conditions for doing business, and to direct the development of the agrarian sector in the long term.In the thesis are presented theoretical-conceptual and methodological-applicative solutions and procedures for the establishment of an integrated system of accounting informing in the field of agriculture. Defined integral system of accounting informing in the field of agriculture is characterized by universality, and applicability in different countries, of course, with appropriate methodological adjustments of the specific conditions in each country. The establishment of an integral system of accounting informing in practice, will undoubtedly bring a number of benefits to all stakeholders that are associated with agricultural production: farmers, advisory services, scientific and educational institutions, ministries and other state institutions, professional associations of producers in the agrarian sector (chambers, clusters) and others. Results of the thesis have significant theoretical, methodological and applicative value and significantly contribute to the development of theory and practice in the field of agricultural accounting, and thereby improve the agricultural sector as a whole. 

Kvalitetna postavka kombinacije internih kontrolnih mehanizama, u značajnoj meri oredeljuje i kvalitet samog kontrolnog okruženja preduzeća. Ovim istraživanjem je potvrđena činjenica da kvalitetno kontrolno okruženje značajno doprinosi dobrom upravljanju ciljevima i rizicima. Centralno mesto u procesu korporativnog upravljanja zauzimaju interni kontrolni mehanizmi koncentrisani u procesu upravljanja rizicima. Interni kontrolni mehanizmi upotrebom svojih kontrolnih „alata“, olakšavaju procenu rizika, njegovo prepoznavanje i merenje. Svako iz svog ugla: računovodstvo, kontroling, Fast Close, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning ), IMS (Integrisani sistemi menadžmenta) , finansijsko upravljanje i kontrola, ERM (Enterprise Risk Management) i interna revizija, su značajni elementi internih kontrolnih mehanizama, u procesu
Creating a right combination of internal control mechanisms, to a large extent, also determines the quality of a company’s control environment. This research has confirmedthe fact that an efficient control environment significantly contributes to proper management of goals and risks. The central place in the process of corporate governance belongs to internal control mechanisms centered in the process of risk management. Internal control mechanisms, by using their control "tools", facilitate the risk assessment, its identification and measurement. Everyone from their own perspective: accounting, controlling, Fast Close, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), IMS (Integrated Management Systems), financial management and control, ERM (Enterprise Risk Management) and internal audit, are important elements of internal control mechanisms in the process of managing the key financial and operational risks.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att utforska hur internredovisningens finansiella termer utformas som kommunikationsverktyg och tillämpas av organisationens medlemmar som ett stöd inom organisationens operationella verksamhet. Genom att utgå utifrån specifika mötestillfällen ämnar studien att utforska hur internredovisningens finansiella termer gestaltas och beaktas inom en organisation. Teoretisk referensram: Studien har utgått från tidigare forskning kring kommunikation och ”the language of business” för att sedan kopplas samman med genre-teori (Miller, 1984) och modell som knyter an att se på kommunikation utifrån ett semiotiskt perspektiv (Pärl, 2011). Slutsats: Resultatet av denna studie påvisar att vid utformning av organisationers kommunikationsprocesser är ekonomisystemen av stor betydelse. Störst inverkan har, som precis nämnts, ekonomisystem på de faktorer som bidrar till valet av tajming, informationskanal och innehåll som sägs svara på frågorna när, var och vad. Avslutningsvis visar studiens resultat att det är aktörens individuella preferenser som besvarar frågan hur och därmed bidrar hur internredovisningens finansiella termer utformas som ett kommunikationsverktyg, organisationens individuella ”the language of business”.
Purpose: The aim with this study is to explore the way the financial terms within Management Accounting are designed as a way of communicating and how it is applied by organizational members to support their operational business. By drawing on specific meetings the study intends to explore how the financial terms within Management Accounting are represented and taken into consideration within an organization. Theoretical Approach: This report is based on existing literature within the field of communication and "the language of business" which then have been considered in relation to Genre Theory (Miller, 1984) and a semiotic-based communication model (Pärl, 2011). Conclusions: The study has indicated that when designing organizational communication processes, the design is influenced by existing Management Accounting and Control Systems. Important aspects to consider are timing, channel of communication and message. These aspects can be said to answer the questions of when, where and what. Finally, the outcome of this report also indicates that individual preferences, answering the question of how are important aspects to consider since the study indicates strong connection between individuals and the way addressing the financial terms of Accounting, in other words, designing a unique "the language of business".

The purpose of this project is to develop a computerized timesheet application. Using this application, an employee of a company can log onto the company's Web site and fill out a timesheet from anywhere in the world. The project involved automating timesheet data entry and approval procedures using contemporary technologies like Active Server Pages (ASP), JavaScript, VB Script, Component Object Model (COM), Components and Open Database connectivity (ODBC).

Terminological equivalence is one of the central issues in translation. To secure equivalence in translations for special purpose languages, the translator has to structure the terms of a given text by reference to a conceptual system and thus identify - independently for both the source and target languages - the conceptual system in which a specific term is embedded. Bilingual and multilingual dictionaries are indispensable tools for any translator. However, due to the importance of the conceptual systems in specialised-language translation, a specialised dictionary has to fulfill higher requirements than general dictionaries. As a matter of fact, a dictionary suitable for specialised-language translation should follow an onomasiological rather than a semasiological approach to lexicography. In this paper, the author studies the basic requirements for a bilingual dictionary that is intended to be of practical use for specialised-language translation, taking a user's perspective when discussing the problem of equivalence between terms in two languages. This is based on selected concepts taken from the field of accounting (IAS/IFRS and national accounting rules) that are translated from German to Spanish and vice versa. While the dictionaries examined are generally well prepared, the study shows that none of them includes information necessary to a translator for ensuring a correct translation.
Series: WU Online Papers in International Business Communication

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The purpose of this work is to identify the occurrence of noises that affect the communication process, with accounting statements working as businesses language within the process of account rendering between the social work entities and the City Hall of the City of Tabo??o da Serra - City Council of Social Work (CMAS) and City Hall of Tabo??o da Serra (PMTS). In order to do that, it is based on studies that suggest the existence of a relationship between the accounting process, as business language, and the communication theory, with emphasis on the noises that may interfere in any communication process. The investigation tries to identify the occurrence of noises according to the perception of the users of accounting statements, issues - social work entities and receivers - CMAS and PMTS. The reason for carrying out this research comes from the study carried out by the Commission of Guidance Analysis and Inspection COAF/CMAS, where it was detected that the majority of the registered entities had their registrations cancelled or suspended because of problems with the account rendering and research carried out at CMAS, where it was observed the difficulty of the CMAS in establishing and maintaining partnerships with the social work entities in the city. The communication theory reveals that, some times, the level of knowledge of the issuer and the receiver, the social and cultural context where both of them are inserted, the channel used, the content of the message are responsible for problems that occur in the communication process. Therefore, this theory establishes parameters to determine if the communicative act takes place efficiently and effectively. As the main purpose of accounting is the supply of useful information for taking decisions, if accounting statements are not understood, it means that noises took place during the process and that the communicative act did not fully take place. In order to avoid or diminish the harmful effects of the noise it is essential to know where and how they take place.
O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar a ocorr??ncia de ru??dos que comprometem o processo de comunica????o, sendo as demonstra????es cont??beis atuantes como linguagem de neg??cios no processo de presta????o de contas entre as entidades assistenciais e o Poder P??blico do Munic??pio de Tabo??o da Serra - Conselho Municipal de Assist??ncia Social (CMAS) e Prefeitura Municipal de Tabo??o da Serra (PMTS). Para tanto, baseou-se em estudos que sugerem existir rela????o entre o processo cont??bil, enquanto linguagem de neg??cios e a teoria da comunica????o, com ??nfase aos ru??dos que podem intervir em qualquer processo de comunica????o. A investiga????o buscou identificar a incid??ncia de ru??dos segundo a percep????o dos usu??rios das demonstra????es cont??beis, emissores - entidades assistenciais e receptores - CMAS e PMTS. A motiva????o desta pesquisa adv??m de estudo realizado pela Comiss??o de Orienta????o An??lise e Fiscaliza????o COAF/CMAS, neste estudo detectado que a maioria das entidades cadastradas estava com seus registros cancelados ou suspensos por problemas com as presta????o de contas e pesquisa realizada no pr??prio CMAS, onde foi detectado a dificuldade que este tem encontrado em formar e manter parcerias com as organiza????es de assist??ncia social do munic??pio. A teoria da comunica????o vem revelar que, por vezes, o n??vel de conhecimento do emissor e do receptor, o contexto s??cio-cultural em que ambos se encontram o canal utilizado, o conte??do da mensagem s??o respons??veis por problemas ocasionados no processo de comunica????o. Portanto, essa teoria estabelece par??metros para avaliar se o ato comunicativo ocorre com efici??ncia e efic??cia. Conclui-se que, como o objetivo principal da contabilidade ?? o fornecimento de informa????es ??teis para a tomada de decis??es, se as demonstra????es cont??beis n??o forem compreendidas, significa que ru??dos ocorreram durante o processo e que o ato comunicativo n??o ocorreu plenamente. Para evitar ou minimizar os efeitos nocivos do ru??do ?? imprescind??vel conhecer onde e como eles ocorrem.

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Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
The focus of this dissertation research focuses on the difficulty of most students, both in the process of reading and writing process, especially in relation to language teaching applied courses. The question we seek to answer points to a way to "teach" Portuguese for young people looking after high school, a specific technical area- in this case, the field of Accounting. As forfield research, we established a Needs Analysis, which guides the instrument for a drawing course able to answer there search question. Listed as objectives to identify, through this analysis, primarily students' difficulties, in particular those relating to the skills of reading and text production, working with genres present in the world of specialty focus, identify reading strategies and production of texts that facilitate students; develop proposed approach in teaching for specific purposes which contemplates production and reading of texts in accounting. The methodology was qualitative assumed, whose foundation is given a dimension of research and action. As a theoretical basis, we use studies: reading from Solé (1998) and Kleiman (2004), text production, derivatives Sautchuk (2003) and Passarelli (2004); approach for specific purposes, assumptions by Celani (2009), Cintra and Passarelli (2008) and Ramos (2009), gender, conducted by Bhatia (1993) and Bazerman (2005); Textual Linguistics, signed in Koch (2001,2009) and Marcuschi (2008). Through out production, the data guided the planning of lessons and evidence that the Needs Analysis is an essential part for an education suited to the needs of the group being studied in courses for specific purposes
O foco dessa dissertação pesquisa centraliza-se na dificuldade da maior parte dos estudantes, tanto no processo de leitura quanto no processo de escrita, sobretudo no que tange ao ensino de língua aplicada a cursos. A pergunta que se busca responder aponta para uma forma de ensinar Língua Portuguesa para jovens que procuram, após o Ensino Médio, uma área técnica específica no caso, o campo da Contabilidade. Quanto à pesquisa de campo, estabeleceu-se uma Análise de Necessidades, instrumento o qual orienta para um desenho de curso capaz de responder à indagação da pesquisa. Constam como objetivos identificar, mediante tal análise, prioritariamente as dificuldades dos alunos, em particular as relativas às habilidades de leitura e produção de textos; trabalhar com gêneros presentes no universo da especialidade em foco; identificar estratégias de leitura e de produção de textos facilitadoras para os alunos; elaborar proposta de ensino na abordagem para fins específicos a qual contemple leitura e produção de textos na área contábil. A metodologia assumida foi a qualitativa, cujo alicerce se dá numa dimensão de pesquisa e ação. Como base teórica, utilizam-se estudos sobre: leitura, provenientes de Solé (1998) e Kleiman (2004); produção de textos, derivados de Sautchuk (2003) e Passarelli (2004); abordagem para fins específicos, pressupostos por Celani (2009), Cintra e Passarelli (2008) e Ramos (2009); gênero, conduzidos por Bhatia (1993) e Bazerman (2005); Linguística Textual, firmados em Koch (2001, 2009) e Marcuschi (2008). Ao longo de toda produção,os dados obtidos orientaram o planejamento das aulas e evidenciam que a Análise de Necessidades é parte fundamental para um ensino adequado às necessidades da turma em estudo, em cursos para fins específicos

Although Andrew Marvell wrote and published relatively little, his poetry collects from the full range of “schools” and idiosyncratic styles present in the seventeenth century: echoes of Herbert, Donne, Milton, Traherne, Herrick, Lovelace, and Jonson, among others, permeate throughout his work. Although much of his imagery seems novel, if not strange, it is clear that Marvell has a deep engagement with several important long-running traditions. His work is conversation with Ovid, Horace, and Theocritus as much as it responds directly to the poets whose lives overlapped with his own. In his engagement with such varied sources, Marvell demonstrates an astounding degree of poetic flexibility. He is a master of imitating voice and style.

Religion and religious ritual has been linked to providing individuals and entire communities with the ability to cope in the aftermath of life-changing traumas. This thesis explores the intersection of coping and ritual in the aftermath of the recent persecution of the Yezidi people. The methodology utilizes qualitative interviews and participant observation which was conducted in Ainkawa, Lalish and Bashiqa during fieldwork that took place in July 2017. A sample of 25 Yezidis who remain displaced in Northern Iraq were asked to describe their experience of coping in the aftermath of the Sinjar Massacre. I argue that the introduction of a baptismal ritual extended to adult women became a medium to reclaim identity. This allowed women who were abducted to symbolically re- declare themselves as Yezidi, cope with the trauma, reintegrate into the community and reclaim their identity through ritual, which presents healing in a framework that is largely relatable.

For years, researchers have examined financial data in corporate earnings announcements and their influence on market participants. More recently, a body of research has been developing recognizing the impact of narrative disclosures and managers’ deliberate language choices. However, no prior studies have investigated those language choices of managers which are likely unintentional in composing such narratives; language choices which—as previous research has revealed—escape conscious access. Using an empirically-grounded model which systematically classifies different predicates, I examined whether managers use systematic patterns of language when construing the earnings press release in a likely unintentional effort to channel or direct readers’ attention. I found that managers write positive information using a more concrete construal than negative information. Additionally, I used experimental data to examine whether these systematic differences lead to different perceptions of the company and its value as an investment alternative. Nonprofessional investors performed an analysis of an earnings press release where I manipulated the valence of the narrative as positive or negative and the construal of the narrative as abstract or concrete. I found that these manipulations had an interactive influence on investment decisions. Specifically, investors were least likely to invest when a negatively valenced narrative was written concretely. I also found that the influence of the narrative on the investment decision was direct and not the result of the narrative influencing the investors’ focus of attention on the accompanying financial statements. Additionally, I tested whether the investor judgments were due to intentional cognitive effects and found that the influence of the narrative on the investment decision was not conscious on the part of the investor. Lastly, I conducted an analysis of archival data to examine the relationship between managers’ language use in forward-looking statements of the earnings press release and future firm performance and the extent to which the market responds to these linguistic clues. Results from the analysis suggest that construal is predictive of future firm performance and the market is incorporating this into pricing for firms that meet or beat earnings expectations.

Dissertation in compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Cost and Management Accounting, Durban University of Technology, 2012.
The aim of this research is to evaluate the communication proficiency of students studying Cost and Management Accounting (CMA) and to assess whether the subject communication, as a course, is having any positive influence on students who are lacking critical thinking and literacy skills. It is necessary to analyse the factors affecting communication because of the diversity of the Durban University of Technology (DUT) students coming from different cultural, ethnic and geographic backgrounds before evaluating the communication proficiency of students. The field of accounting is broadly quantitative in nature, but Management Accounting, although a branch of this broad knowledge is more qualitative in nature. Data analysis, report writing and decision making are fundamental to Management Accounting. The target population for the study was CMA students. This population entails students enrolled for the first time in 2007 and current second and third year students. It was necessary to follow the progress of the 2007 cohort of students to establish whether students were achieving their qualification within the specified three year period as required by the CMA course and whether communication skills were an issue if they were unsuccessful. The objective to include second and third year students registered in the Department of Management Accounting at DUT in 2012 was to acquire current and pertinent information with regard to student perception on the subject relating to communication skills. An analytical type of research approach was used to conduct the study and quantitative data was collected using questionnaires and computer reports to gain an insight into the impact of communication skills as a subject in the CMA programme. The study confirmed that gender and the location of schools played a role in the academic performance of students. The overall performance between the genders revealed that female students performing slightly better than their male counterparts. English First Language (EFL) female students demonstrated much better academic performance than the EFL male students. Irrespective of language differences, if a student had an aptitude and performed well in the English Language at grade 12 or matric, the student has a better chance of being more successful with the CMA programme The number of EFL and English Second Language (ESL) students acknowledging that the English language affected them in obtaining better grades in CMA was fifty one per cent. Since the second and third year CMA students perceive that their lecturers were unaware of their poor understanding of the English language after completing the subject Communication Skills in the first year of study indicates that the subject is not having the desired affect. Both EFL and ESL students also acknowledged the vital role that Communication Skills play in education, social and economic development. This study, inter alia, recommends a screening of new students for English proficiency and providing academic support for students who have problem with literacy skills. It also recommends increasing the subject content of Communication Skills and extending the duration from one semester to two semesters.

Overseas Chinese language media played an important role in the new era since the “One belt, one road” and “Chinese Dreams” have been proposed. They can not be ignored in the globalization development. They are the bridges connected China with other countries, especially under the direction of a set of Chinese strategies. However, they also have been being trapped in the new era with increasing competition. This thesis, taking the Jornal Puxin, an overseas Chinese language medium in Portugal, as the case study, emphasizes on the analysis of the current operating situation of overseas Chinese language media base on the related theories of strategic management such as PEST analysis, Five Forces analysis, VRIO analysis. It is necessary for overseas Chinese language media to transform and develop due to their existing hardships under the increasing competitive environment. In the end of this thesis, according to the case study, strategies are recommended for the case study as solutions to overseas Chinese language media in trouble. The purpose of this thesis is to provide a basis of the study of overseas Chinese language media by developing a case study with strategic management knowledge.
Os media chineses no estrangeiro têm apresentado um importante papel na nova era desde que o “One belt, one road” e o “Chinese Dreams” foram propostos, sendo esses impossíveis de se ignorar no desenvolvimento da globalização. Eles são as conexões da China com outros países, especialmente sob as diretrizes de um conjunto de estratégias chinesas para tal. No entanto, os media chineses no estrangeiro vêm sendo limitados na nova era com a crescente competição. O presente trabalho escolheu o Jornal Puxin como representante dos media chineses em Portugal para desenvolvimento de um caso de estudo, o qual analisou a sua situação através de teorias de gestão estratégica como a análises PEST, o modelo das Cinco Forças de Porter e o de VRIO. O resultado evidenciou a necessidade dos media chineses em Portugal em evoluir e desenvolver novas estratégias para enfrentar as existentes dificuldades inerentes ao ambiente competitivo na qual se inserem. Essas referidas estratégias foram recomendadas no final do estudo de caso.