Kot, Esma2017-12-042017-12-042017-112017-112017-12-01http://hdl.handle.net/11693/35647Cataloged from PDF version of article.Thesis (M.S.): Bilkent University, Department of Teaching English as a Foreign Language, İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University, 2017.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-148).This study investigated whether familiarity and proficiency factors play a role in EFL learners’ use of interactional resources (i.e., turn-taking, topic management, repair and task management) and the emergence of interactional patterns (i.e., collaborative, parallel, asymmetric and blend) in paired speaking tests. The study was carried out with 100 EFL learners paired as low-low, high-high and low-high and with 36 EFL learners matched as unfamiliar and familiar in the oral proficiency exam at a state university in Turkey. In order to place the participants for low-low, high-high and low-high groups, their scores in the proficiency exam which measured their reading, writing and listening skills as well as their vocabulary and grammar knowledge, and their scores in the oral proficiency exam were examined by the researcher. While 15 pairs were selected for the low-low and high-high groups separately, 20 pairs were selected for the low-high group. Then all 100 students (50 pairs) in the first cohort were asked whether their partners were their classmates or their friends in the exam and nine pairs out of 50 were detected as familiar. After that, nine unfamiliar pairs were selected in order to compare them with the familiar ones. In total, 50 videos were listened to and transcribed by using the conventions suggested by Jefferson (2004). Forthwith, all transcriptions were analyzed in order to identify the interactional resources such as turn-taking, repair, topic management and task management employed by the test-takers during the test discourse. Following this process, the researcher drew upon the interactional resources in order to assign the interactional patterns such as collaborative, asymmetric, parallel and blend which took place during test-takers’ interaction with each other. The results indicated that pairing two different proficiency level students is disadvantageous for the high level test-takers in terms of topic management, task management and repair. In contrast, while the low levels are advantageous in terms of topic and task management in particular, they are disadvantageous in terms of turn-taking. What is more, while high-high pairs create a collaborative pattern which is the most favorable one, low-low pairs usually create a parallel pattern. On the other hand, low-high pairs usually generate an asymmetric pattern due to the dominance of the high levels. Furthermore, the findings suggested that pairing two unfamiliar peer interlocutors seem more advantageous for the test-takers because unfamiliar pairs usually generate a collaborative pattern whereas familiar pairs usually create an asymmetric pattern during the test discourse. In light of these findings, this study provided insights into how test-takers should be matched in paired speaking tests for the test administrators.xxiv, 189 leaves : charts (some color) ; 30 cmEnglishinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessPeer interlocutorProficiencyFamiliarityPairing systemPaired speaking testsInteractionInteractional resourcesInteractional patternsThesisB156811