despite the little time dedicated to the teaching of foreign languages, the practical aspects of knowing a foreign language have been successfully applied in Brazilian schools.

Brazilian legislation established that the study of English as a foreign language had to be compulsory from 1996 onwards.

many deficiencies in the teaching of English in Brazilian schools persist in spite of improved textbooks, better training of teachers and the use of audio-visual aids.

the broad aim of the teaching of English in Brazilian schools should be to give each child a new means of communication.

regular school teaching is less effective than the learning experience students gain when attending classes at language schools in Brazil.

the learning goal in the teaching of culture is the memorization of cultural facts.

language function is not independent of the context in which it is used.

the nature and extent of students’ cultural competence is more important than their linguistic competence.

the culture of the student rarely has attributes which can be carried across to the foreign language culture.

culture should be understood as a relatively static entity made up of accumulated, classifiable, observable, thus eminently teachable and learnable facts.

client satisfaction can be determined through the use of the service quality approach.

auditors do not always accurately perceive clients’ expectations.

the quality of goods and services can both be measured objectively.

due to its complexity, service quality cannot be measured in terms of clients’ perceptions of the service delivered.

audit firms need to have sufficient understanding of their clients in order to improve the quality of service they provide.

gender, performance, salary, and accounting degree are the reasons for employee turnover across countries.

female auditors are more likely to depart the accounting firm.

high employee turnover has never been a concern in the public accounting profession.

frequent replacement of professional staff can have an adverse impact on audit quality.

research evidence has shown that as much as half of accounting graduates who choose public accounting for their first positions remained in the field three years after the start.