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Effect of Accounting Role-Play Activities on Communication Skills among Accounting Education Students in Nigeria

Abstract

Effective communication is an essential competence in accounting practice because accounting professionals are required to communicate financial information, explain accounting procedures, present financial findings, interact with clients and colleagues, participate in meetings, and communicate recommendations to different stakeholders. Accounting education students therefore require strong oral, interpersonal, listening, presentation, and professional communication skills in addition to technical accounting knowledge. However, conventional accounting instruction may provide limited opportunities for students to practise communication within realistic professional accounting situations. Accounting Role-Play Activities provide students with opportunities to assume professional accounting roles, interact with peers, explain accounting information, respond to questions, participate in simulated meetings, and communicate financial recommendations in realistic situations. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of accounting role-play activities on communication skills among accounting education students in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on Experiential Learning Theory, Social Learning Theory, and Constructivist Learning Theory. Experiential Learning Theory emphasizes learning through concrete experience, reflection, conceptualization, and active experimentation, providing a suitable framework for students' participation in accounting role-play activities. Social Learning Theory emphasizes learning through observation, imitation, interaction, feedback, and reinforcement, which are relevant to the development of interpersonal and communication skills through role-play. Constructivist Learning Theory emphasizes active participation, collaboration, prior knowledge, and the construction of knowledge through meaningful learning experiences. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how accounting role-play activities may influence students' communication skills. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise undergraduate accounting education students enrolled in selected public and private universities across Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, universities, faculties or departments, levels of study, and eligible accounting education students. Accounting role-play activities will be assessed using indicators such as frequency of role-play activities, participation in simulated client meetings, accountant-client interactions, auditor-client discussions, management meetings, financial advisory sessions, budget presentations, tax consultation scenarios, professional interviews, team presentations, negotiation activities, question-and-answer sessions, peer feedback, lecturer feedback, role assignment, realism of scenarios, opportunities for repeated performance, and use of workplace-based accounting situations. Students' communication skills will be assessed using indicators such as oral communication, clarity of expression, active listening, professional vocabulary, explanation of accounting information, presentation skills, interpersonal communication, questioning skills, response to questions, confidence in speaking, ability to communicate complex accounting concepts, teamwork communication, negotiation skills, professional etiquette, non-verbal communication, and ability to communicate financial recommendations effectively to different audiences. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, standardized communication skills assessments, role-play performance tasks, observation checklists, communication competency rubrics, peer-assessment forms, lecturer assessments, and pre-test and post-test assessments where a quasi-experimental design is adopted. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students' demographic and academic characteristics, role-play experiences, participation levels, and communication skills. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, paired and independent t-tests, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of accounting role-play activities on students' communication skills. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, communication skill scores before and after exposure to accounting role-play activities may be compared with those of a comparison group receiving conventional accounting instruction to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that accounting role-play activities have a significant positive effect on communication skills among accounting education students in Nigeria. Students who regularly participate in structured accounting role-play activities are expected to demonstrate stronger oral communication, active listening, presentation, interpersonal, questioning, negotiation, and professional communication skills than students exposed primarily to conventional lecture-based instruction. Role-play may provide students with opportunities to practise explaining complex accounting information in clear and understandable language, respond appropriately to clients and colleagues, defend accounting recommendations, and communicate financial information to individuals with different levels of accounting knowledge. Simulated accountant-client, auditor-client, management, tax consultation, and financial advisory situations may strengthen students' confidence, professional etiquette, teamwork, critical thinking, and ability to communicate under realistic workplace conditions. Repeated performance combined with constructive peer and lecturer feedback may help students identify and improve weaknesses in their communication style. However, large class sizes, limited instructional time, inadequate lecturer training in role-play methods, students' reluctance to participate, insufficient classroom facilities, and limited access to realistic professional scenarios may reduce the effectiveness of accounting role-play activities. The study therefore expects structured, realistic, collaborative, and feedback-oriented accounting role-play activities to contribute significantly to improved communication skills among accounting education students in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on accounting role-play activities, communication skills, accounting education, experiential learning, social learning, constructivist learning, professional communication, interpersonal skills, employability skills, accounting pedagogy, and higher education in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the National Universities Commission, universities, accounting education departments, accounting educators, professional accounting bodies, accounting firms, employers, curriculum developers, and policymakers regarding strategies for strengthening communication and employability skills in accounting education. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating accounting role-play activities into accounting education curricula, developing realistic accountant-client and auditor-client scenarios, strengthening students' oral and professional communication skills, training accounting educators in experiential teaching methods, incorporating peer and lecturer feedback into role-play activities, using communication competency-based assessments, and creating stronger connections between university accounting education and the interpersonal and communication competencies required in contemporary accounting workplaces.

Keywords: Accounting role-play activities, communication skills, accounting education students, oral communication, professional communication, interpersonal skills, presentation skills, experiential learning, employability skills, accounting pedagogy, Nigerian universities, Nigeria.