Learner acquaintanceship and oral proficiency test pair-task performance:

TLDR: This paper explored the effect on pair-task performance of test-takers' familiarity with their partner and found evidence of an ''acquaintanceship'' effect, with subjects achieving higher scores when working with a friend.

Abstract: This paper explores the effect on pair-task performance of test-takers’ familiarity with their partner. O’Sullivan (2000a), like McNamara (1996), sees test performance as being affected by a number of factors, related to the test-taker, the interlocutor and the task. Evidence from the psychology literature, and anecdotal evidence from language learners and teachers, suggests that familiarity with one’s partner in an interactive task might positively affect performance, although in the only published study to date, Porter (1991a) found no evidence to support this hypothesis.A group of 32 Japanese learners performed a series of three tasks (personal information exchange, narrative, and decision making), once with a friend, and again with a person who was not known to them. All performances were video-recorded, awarded scores by trained raters and transcribed for analysis. Results suggest evidence of an `acquaintanceship’ effect, with subjects achieving higher scores when working with a friend. However, anal...