A Cloze-Based Investigation of Reading Comprehension as a Composite of Subskills

Abstract

Examination of validity studies related to the cloze procedure and reading comprehension revealed that researchers have not considered the relationship of cloze to comprehension subskills purportedly tapped by a standardized test of reading achievement. Cloze passages used in correlation studies were drawn from material other than the passages used in the standardized tests. Cloze tests derived from passages in the standardized reading test used as the criterion would seem to add greater content validity to correlation findings. This procedure would insure identical passage difficulty, content, length, and language structure. Since Bormuth (1967, 1968) and Raskin and Culhane (1968) have provided a precedent in the use of identical passages for cloze and multiple choice tests to establish concurrent validity, basing cloze tests on passages in standardized tests of reading achievement seems a logical extension of that concurrent validity procedure. Bormuth (1969) provided evidence that the cloze procedure does measure a factor identified as reading comprehension. Authors such as Davis (1972), Smith and Barrett (1974), Stroud (1969), and Lennon (1969) maintain that reading comprehension should be considered a composite of various subskills. Farr (1969), in a review of measurements in reading, concludes that even though validation of these subskills has not been successful, it is likely they do exist and should be accounted for in a measure of reading comprehension. The Davis Reading Test Form 2A was chosen for the criterion test. The cloze tests were constructed from the first, third, and fifth passages of the Davis Heading Test Form 2A (DRT). These tests were based on an every fifth word deletion; the first and last sentences of each passage were left intact. Following Bormuth's (1965) recommendations, it was determined that the three passages would account for the readability of the test with a minimum amount of error in measurement. In addition, since the researchers were not concerned with speed of comprehension, the cloze tests were limited to the section assessing level of comprehension. Davis designed each item of the DRT to assess the comprehension subskill he believed it to represent. The five subskills of comprehension in the DRT, identified in previous research by Davis (1944), are: 1. Finding the answers to questions answered explicitly or in paraphrase in a passage; 2. Weaving together the ideas in a passage and grasping its central thought; 3. Making inferences about the content of a passage and about the purpose or point of view of its author; 4. Recognizing the tone and mood of a passage and the literary devices used by its author; 5. Following the structure of a passage.