This book intends to provide a theoretical overview of examining candidates' oral abilities in
different examination formats. In particular it explores specific partner effects on discourse
outcomes and proficiency ratings in the framework of paired-task performance. Two
investigations both set in the context of a proposed Hungarian school leaving examination in
English were carried out in order to contribute to a better understanding of the assumed
impact of the chosen variables. Study One investigates discourse differences between
examiner-to-examinee interaction and peer-to-peer interaction. Study Two explores the impact of
the peer partner's proficiency. The results show that partner effects related to this variable
cannot be predicted as either harmful or beneficial since no statistically significant
difference was found between 30 candidates' scores in different examination conditions.
