Effects of peer familiarity on Chinese English learners’ L2 learning in collaborative writing

Abstract In second language education, the pairing of students for interaction, particularly based on peer familiarity, has garnered considerable attention from researchers. Despite this focus, studies examining the impact of peer familiarity on language learning during peer interactions have produced varied results, with limited exploration in the context of collaborative writing tasks. This study seeks to investigate the effects of peer familiarity on Chinese English learners’ language learning in collaborative writing. Two groups of participants were recruited, including five familiar pairs and five unfamiliar pairs. Their interactive dialogues throughout the collaborative writing process were recorded; transcribed; and then analyzed for the number, type, and outcome of language‐related episodes (LREs). Our findings revealed that the familiar pairs exhibited a significantly higher production of LREs and a greater success rate in solving these episodes compared to the unfamiliar pairs. Furthermore, all participants demonstrated a higher retention rate for successfully solved LREs compared to unsolved ones, although no significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of language learning retention. The findings offer pedagogical implications for student grouping in collaborative work.