Understanding The Reasons For Poor Learner Performance In Accounting In South Africa: Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

There is a persistent decline in the performance of Accounting learners in South Africa. Therefore, the study focuses on understanding the reasons for the poor performance of learners in the subject of Accounting. We followed the traditions of the interpretivism paradigm to understand the reasons for poor performance in the subject of Accounting. The qualitative research approach was adopted to make sense of the phenomenon. This was a systematic literature review research design. We reviewed literature on the performance of learners, with special focus on the Accounting subject. We purposively selected literature that was relevant to the phenomenon. We also purposively sampled literature for the past 15 years. It assisted us in developing a deeper understanding of factors contributing to the poor performance of learners in the subject of Accounting. Various search engines, such as Google Scholar and Research Gate, were employed to find relevant articles. The key findings revealed that teachers of Accounting are the most contributing factors to the poor performance of learners in Accounting.  Some teachers are still trapped in the old method of teaching. This happened despite the curriculum reforms in Accounting education.  The language of teaching and learning is a critical factor, as some learners receive instruction in a language that is not their mother tongue. The findings also showed that resources are scarce, especially in rural and township schools. This affects the facilitation of learners' understanding of the subject matter.  The study offers some recommendations emanating from the key findings.