CLOZE TEST

Introduction

Cloze tests have also been known as occlusion tests or cloze deletion tests. These tests have been seen to consist of language with different keywords, signs or key items. These tests have been known to remove a portion or some portions of a language and then examinees are asked to fill these gaps with appropriate key items, signs or keywords.

Discussion

Cloze Test

A Cloze Test can also be represented as a fill in the blanks test. Activities that include removing portions of a language in a Cloze test have been known as cloze based activities. These tests have been conducted in order to find out the verbal ability of examinees. Most of these tests have been seen to be used in different governmental exams in India. It has been seen that most governmental exams include approx five questions based on the Cloze Test. An examinee can easily answer questions from the Cloze test if that respective examinee has proper knowledge of Grammar. Cloze tests have been seen to be of two types which are cloze words and cloze paragraphs.

Wilson Taylor in 1953 introduced an exam technique that has been helpful in identifying effectiveness of communication. Taylor named this technique “Cloze Procedure” based on the concept of “Closure” by Gestalt. Gestalt has defined that Closure can be represented by a tendency to complete a structure by filling missing components.

Cloze tests have primarily been seen to be used in language learning, however, these tests often have also been seen to be used as a comprehension check which can be helpful in improving native language reading. Improving understanding of a native language through these tests have been known as “Incremental Reading”. Due to this characteristic of Cloze tests, this procedure has been seen to be used by different tools of language learning. These tests have been known to benefit learners in many ways however, learners from these tests can benefit due to three major aspects and these aspects are that cloze tests can be flexible to meet needs of a learner, these tests have real-world application and these tests have been seen to provide natural settings to learners. Depending on where a learner needs to focus on, components of a cloze test can be changed and thus it can be seen that cloze tests can be flexible to meet needs of a respective learner. As Cloze Tests have been seen to promote active production of grammar, these tests can be seen to be used by different learners in reinforcing their respective knowledge of grammar. Knowledge of grammar being boosted; overall comprehension can also be strengthened and thus can help that learner in real-world applications. Cloze tests as mainly are nothing but fill in the blanks have been seen to define that an examinee knows all parts of a sentence if that examinee filled blanks with appropriate grammar. 

What is Cloze Test

Cloze tests have been known as a way in which comprehension of an examinee can be measured. These tests usually consist of questions where the 5th word or so has been removed and examinees are asked to fill in with appropriate components. These tests have been seen to be useful in language learning where aspects of closure by Gestalt have been seen to be applied. This concept has depicted that human brains see a language as a complete unit and when some components are missing from that language, humans normally fill these missing components depending on their respective past experiences. Cloze tests have been seen to be of two types, one is where some words of a sentence are missing and another one is where a portion of a paragraph is missing. Nowadays, most Cloze tests have been seen to delete an entire paragraph and thus can help assess and analyze both vocabulary and reading skills of an examinee. Cloze tests have been seen to be solved by different individuals in five simple steps. These steps include understanding overview of a given passage, identifying contextually correct components, eliminating confusing components, linking whole sentences before filling gaps and understanding proper tone of whole passage.

Cloze Tests have been seen to be used due to user-based learning, flexibility in applications and modification depending on needs of a user. With advancement of technology, language-learning through Cloze tests has been seen to expand the potential of these tests. Different language-learning tools like Duolingo or Anki have been seen to be including different elements of Cloze tests in their application and thus have been providing a better user experience in language learning. These language-learning tools have also been seen to use cloze deletion tests and thus have been seen to help make language learning far easier than before.

Conclusion

This assignment concluded a discussion on Cloze tests. Different advantages, types and procedures of a cloze test have been concluded in this assignment. Invention of Cloze test and its use in this era have also been concluded here. Usefulness of Cloze test elements in language-learning tools has also been concluded in this assignment. A brief description of the Algorithm which can be helpful in measuring results of a Cloze test has shed light on this assignment. Some frequently asked questions have been concluded along with their appropriate answers.