Effect of proficiency on Vietnamese EFL learners' engagement in peer interaction

To expand previous interaction research that investigated only the impact of proficiency on occurrence of language related episodes or pair dynamics, this study explored the effect of proficiency on a range of cognitive, social and emotional features of interaction through the lens of engagement. Fifteen core EFL learners interacted with peers of higher and lower proficiency to complete picture sequencing tasks. The core learners' degree of engagement when interacting with the lower and the higher proficiency partners was compared. Results revealed that the core learners showed greater cognitive and social engagement and reported higher emotional engagement when interacting with higher proficiency partners. The results are discussed in terms of the role of proficiency pairing in fostering learner engagement in interaction.