Using the Cloze Generator to Make Cloze Exercises

Using the Cloze Generator to Make Cloze Exercises Kenji Kitao Doshisha University kkitao@mail. doshisha. ac. jp

Overview n n n Introduction What is Cloze and Why Use It? Database Software Demonstration Conclusion

Cloze n Original cloze n n English passage with every n-th word blank, in which testees fill in those blanks with the original words Our cloze n English passage with every n-th word blank, or blanks with certain purposes for tests or exercises

Cloze n n Used for testing Used as exercises to develop proficiency in n n Reading Vocabulary Grammar Listening

History n n Taylor developed this procedure in 1953 to measure reliability and difficulty levels of reading materials for native speakers and named it “cloze. ” Later it was found to have high correlations with other tests, and cloze tests have been used as reading comprehension tests.

n n Oller (1971, 1972, 1973) tested cloze tests, and his research indicated that cloze tests are useful for second language learning. Adelberg & Razek (1984) claimed that if the students can obtain more than 44 percent correct answers, the passage is appropriate material for those students.

n n Bachman (1982, 1985) claimed that cloze with blanks for certain purposes are effective. Brown (1988, 1993) highly evaluated cloze tests as fast and economical procedures. Cloze with n-th word blank or blanks for certain purposes are useful not only for testing overall proficiency but also for reading and listening comprehension exercises or grammar exercises.

Cloze tests n n Easy to make However n n Still time consuming Difficult to make blanks of n n Certain vocabulary levels Parts of speech Not easy to keep correct answers straight Time consuming to grade

Software n With Perl n n With database software n n n Very difficult for ELT teachers to use Like a web page Easy to use Web pages for exercises

References Adelberg, A. H. and Razek, J. R. (1984). The cloze procedure: A methodology for determin- ing the understandability of accounting text - books. The Accounting Review, 59, 109– 122. Bachman, L. F. (1982). The trait structure of cloze test scores. TESOL Quarterly, 16, 61– 70. Bachman, L. F. (1985). Performance on cloze tests with fixed-ratio and rational deletions. TESOL Quarterly, 19, 535– 556. Brown, J. D. (1988). Tailored cloze: improved with classical item analysis techniques. Language Testing, 5, 19– 31. Brown, J. D. (1993). What are the characteristics of natural cloze tests? Language Testing, 10, 93– 116.

Oller, J. W. J. (1971). A cloze test of English preposition. TESOL Quarterly, 5, 315– 326. Oller, J. W. J. (1972). Scoring methods and difficulty levels for cloze tests of proficiency in English as a second language. Modern Language Journal, 56, 151– 157. Oller, J. W. J. (1973). Cloze test of second language proficiency and what they measure. Language Learning, 23, 105– 118. Taylor, W. (1953). Cloze procedure: A new tool for measuring readability. Journalism Quarterly, 30, 415– 433. Taylor, W. (1956). Present developments in the use of the cloze procedure. Journalism Quarterly, 33, 42– 48.

Demonstrations How to make cloze tests/exercises How to study with cloze passages

Cloze Generator Homepage http: // www. oit. ac. jp/ip/~kamiya/ mwb/mwb. html