Cloze Test Research Articles

Far transfer of retrieval-practice benefits: rule-based learning as the underlying mechanism.

Benefits of self-testing for learning have been consistently shown for simple materials such as word lists learned by rote memorization. Considerably less evidence for such benefits exists for complex, more educationally relevant materials and its application to new situations. The present study explores the mechanisms underlying this transfer. To this end, a typical retrieval-practice-effect paradigm was applied to foster the learning of an artificial language. Participants either repeatedly studied grammatically correct exemplar sentences of the artificial language or engaged in a cloze test as the interim testafter learning. To assess far transfer, participants in both groups of restudy and retrieval practice engaged in a grammaticality judgment test after a delay of 5min and 1week. In addition, participants in both groups completed a final memory test (i.e., a cloze test identical to the initial test) 1week after learning. In addition to a long-term memory benefit of retrieval practice,results revealed alsoa retrieval-practicebenefit in the far-transfer test after the 1-week delay. The findings further support the view that far transfer is supported by learning the underlying grammatical rules as opposed to memorizing the material. Thus, retrieval practice is also effective for fostering learning of complex materials and, even more importantly, for promoting transfer of learning-a crucial goal in modern educational practices.

Multidimensional Self-Regulation Battery for Reading Comprehension: Preliminary Evidence for Criterion Validity

The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity based on relationships with other variables of the Self-Regulation for Reading Comprehension Multidimensional Battery (BAMA-RC). This study was developed quantitatively, with a cross-sectional and correlational design. Participants were 182 middle school students from Brazil. Nine BAMA-RC scales and a Cloze test were used to assess reading comprehension. The data were analyzed using statistics that evaluate relationships between variables (correlation, linear regression, chi-square test, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney). The results identified preliminary evidence of criterion validity, confirming the hypotheses of relationships between the dimensions of self-regulation for learning and reading comprehension. These findings encourage new studies to extend the psychometric properties of the BAMA-RC.

A Study on the Predictors of Written Expression Level of Turkish Learners as a Foreign Language

In the context of teaching Turkish to foreigners, this study aimed to assess whether attitudes towards the target language, grammatical knowledge, speaking skills, reading comprehension, listening comprehension, and prior writing knowledge could predict success in writing in the target language. To investigate this, a relational survey method and a quantitative research design were employed. The study sample comprised 147 B1 level-foreign learners studying Turkish as a foreign language at the Turkish Language Teaching Center (TÖMER) in Ankara during the 2022-2023 academic year. The study utilized a multiple-choice test to assess reading comprehension, an informative listening text titled “Ay’a Yolculuk (Journey to the Moon)” along with a 20-question short-answer test to evaluate listening comprehension, a rating scale for assessing speaking skills, and a cloze test for measuring Turkish grammar knowledge. Moreover, in this study, a short-answer test was employed to assess the participants’prior knowledge of writing. An attitude scale was used to measure students’attitudes towards learning Turkish, while a 6+1 analytical assessment scale was used to evaluate students’ writing skills. When the predictive impact of the chosen independent variables on writing skills was examined, these variables collectively accounted for 66% of the variation in writing achievement. The ranking of the influence levels of these variables on writing achievement (from most to least influential) was as follows: prior knowledge, grammatical knowledge, reading comprehension, attitude towards the target language, speaking achievement, and listening achievement.

A Comparison of Using Multiple Choice and Cloze Tests on Students’ Achievement in Reading Comprehension at Second Semester of English Department of FKIP Batanghari University

The purpose of the study was to find out the comparative achievement of multiple choice test and bracket test in reading comprehension in the second semester of the department of english, University of FKIP Batanghari. This study used a mixed method approach. The subject of the test would be second semester english students of FKIP Batanghari University. Data was collected through two instruments, which were a test and an interview. Based on the results of this study, the author found that students scored higher in the cloze test than in the multiple choice test. The result of the interview showed that the students preferred to answer the question in the cloze test than in the multiple choice question because they were easier to understand. These perceptions confirm the differences in student scores on the first research question. However, the result also showed that the multiple choice test is a better measure of students' reading comprehension. The students' impressions and opinions about the tests and their own performance were recorded and considered. Implications of results and recommendations further research is needed to obtain detailed and usable information to improve students' reading comprehension and achievement in the future.

Exploring the Relationship among Multimedia Input, Working Memory and L2 Vocabulary Learning

With the advancement in online educational platforms in the present world, multimedia technologies have become a more easily accessed resource in language learning pedagogy than before. Different areas of language pedagogy are benefitting from the use of these multimedia technologies. The present research aims to explore the pertinent effect of multimedia language teaching input on L2 vocabulary building of learners by examining the way they enhance the learners’ working memory efficacy. The study employs an experimental research design by giving two types of WM strategic input (i.e., traditional verbal input and multimedia input) separately to two homogenous groups of 50 graduate ESL learners and observing their effectiveness in their vocabulary development. The study has used two research tools to collect data from the participants. The first is Wesche and Paribakht’s (1996) The Vocabulary Knowledge test which rates the vocabulary knowledge of the participants, and the second is a self-designed Working Memory cloze test to check the efficacy of the participants’ working memory through their vocabulary achievement. The participants are judged twice on the two scales, first before the treatment (pre-test 1 & 2), and second, after the treatment (posttest1 & 2). The results are obtained by comparing the participants’ mean scores of the vocabulary knowledge and working memory in pre and posttests of both variables. T-tests have also been run to see the improvement in learners’ VK and WM, and regression analysis has been carried out to see the relationship among the variables. The findings reveal that both WM strategies, i.e., verbal input and multimedia input are helpful in the development of learners’ vocabulary and working memory efficacy, and that verbal input and multimedia input are both positively related with VK and WM. However, the former (multimedia input) is more effective in enhancing the learners’ vocabulary knowledge and working memory efficacy as compared to the latter (verbal input). The findings are significant for the L2 learners, teachers, administrators, and the policy makers alike because they suggest that multimedia technologies should be incorporated to the maximum level of use in L2 classes for the learners’ vocabulary building.

Exploiting Contextual Target Attributes for Target Sentiment Classification

In the past few years, pre-trained language models (PTLMs) have brought significant improvements to target sentiment classification (TSC). Existing PTLM-based models can be categorized into two groups: 1) fine-tuning-based models that adopt PTLM as the context encoder; 2) prompting-based models that transfer the classification task to the text/word generation task. Despite the improvements achieved by these models, we argue that they have their respective limitations. For fine-tuning-based models, they cannot make the best use of the PTLMs’ strong language modeling ability because the pre-train task and downstream fine-tuning task are not consistent. For prompting-based models, although they can sufficiently leverage the language modeling ability, it is hard to explicitly model the target-context interactions, which are widely realized as a crucial point of this task. In this paper, we present a new perspective of leveraging PTLM for TSC: simultaneously leveraging the merits of both language modeling and explicit target-context interactions via contextual target attributes. Specifically, we design the domain- and target-constrained cloze test, which can leverage the PTLMs’ strong language modeling ability to generate the given target’s attributes pertaining to the review context. The attributes contain the background and property information of the target, which can help to enrich the semantics of the review context and the target. To exploit the attributes for tackling TSC, we first construct a heterogeneous information graph by treating the attributes as nodes and combining them with (1) the syntax graph automatically produced by the off-the-shelf dependency parser and (2) the semantics graph of the review context, which is derived from the self-attention mechanism. Then we propose a heterogeneous information gated graph convolutional network to model the interactions among the attribute information, the syntactic information, and the contextual information. The experimental results on three benchmark datasets demonstrate the superiority of our model, which achieves new state-of-the-art performance.

Exploration of vocational high school students experiencing difficulty in cloze test performances: a mixed-methods study in Taiwan

This study addressed a gap in existing research on Multiple-Choice (MC) cloze tests by focusing on the learners’ perspective, specifically examining the difficulties faced by vocational high school students (VHSs). A nationwide sample of 293 VHSs participated, providing both quantitative and qualitative data through a self-developed questionnaire. The results revealed that vocabulary and grammar posed the greatest challenges in the MC cloze test, while sentence patterns were perceived as the least difficult by VHSs. Factors contributing to these difficulties included the need for increased focus on vocabulary and grammar learning. Some participants attributed challenges to personal perceptions of intellectual capability, while others highlighted the influential role of teachers’ attitudes on their learning motivations and outcomes. The study suggested implications for test designs and teaching approaches. Despite these contributions, the study acknowledged limitations and offered suggestions for future research directions.

The Impact of Metacognition on Scores in the Cloze Tests of the New College Entrance Examination for English in Jiangsu Province: A Case Study of English Teaching in the Flow Classroom at Nanjing No.5 Senior High School

With the continuous reform and development of China's education system, the position of metacognition in language learning has gradually been emphasized. The New College Entrance Examination in Jiangsu Province, which is part of China's secondary education curriculum reform, imposes stricter and broader requirements on students' English proficiency. Under this new situation, it is particularly important to study in detail the use of metacognition in the English subject and to analyze the effect of metacognition on students' performance in the English Completed Gaps section of the New College Entrance Examination. In order to better understand how metacognition can help students improve their performance in the English Cloze Exam, this study will take a process in "Flow classroom" of Nanjing No.5 Middle School as a case study. The English curriculum and teaching methods of the "class" in Nanjing No. 5 Middle School are characterized by the school's high-quality teaching resources. The study also emphasizes practice and innovation to develop students' metacognitive skills. Therefore, through empirical cases, it can be better understood the role of metacognition in actual classroom teaching and practical tips to help students achieve better grades in the College Entrance Examination.

Differences in scanpath pattern and verbal working memory predicts efficient reading in the Cloze gap-filling test.

Different tests measure text comprehension, including the cloze gap-filling test, often used for language learning. Different studies hypothesized cognitive strategies in this type of test and their relationship with working memory and performance. However, no study investigated the cloze test, working memory, and possible cognitive strategies, while performing the test. Therefore, this study aimed to identify cognitive visual strategies in the cloze test by applying an unsupervised algorithm and to analyze the relationship between these strategies with working memory and performance in the cloze test. Our sample consisted of 51 university students, the largest sample in studies of cognitive strategies with cloze tests. Participants answered an 11-item cloze test in a computer with eye-tracking, a verbal working memory test, and a visuospatial working memory test. Our analysis of participants' scanpath identified two main strategies: one with fewer toggles between text and word bank and fewer fixations than the other one, indicating the existence of a global strategy. Furthermore, a model predicting the efficiency of participants in the cloze test found that item complexity, using a global strategy, and higher scores of working memory were the most significant predictors. These results confirm the hypothesis of a global strategy being related to successfully achieving higher-order reading processes.

Gaining a deeper understanding of the deep cloze reading comprehension test: examining potential contributors and consequences

AbstractThe deep cloze test was developed by Jensen and Elbro (Read Writ Interdiscip J 35(5):1221–1237, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-021-10230-w) to assess reading comprehension at the level of global situational understanding. In two independent studies, we examined potential contributors to students’ scores on the deep cloze reading comprehension test, as well as the predictability of students’ scores on this measure for their course achievement and integrated text understanding measured with an open-ended written comprehension assessment. Results showed that students’ language background, word recognition skills, and working memory resources explained unique portions of the variance in students’ scores on the deep cloze reading comprehension test. Further, scores on this test were positively correlated with students’ course achievement and uniquely predicted their integrated text understanding when language background, working memory, and prior topic knowledge were controlled for. Taken together, our findings support an interpretation of the deep cloze reading comprehension test as an effective and efficient measure of situation level understanding that draws on language skills, word level processes, and working memory resources and also can be used to predict students’ performance on important criterial tasks requiring deeper level understanding.

CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT PRACTICES AND STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KENYA

This study investigated the impact of assessment methods used in internal evaluation on students’ achievement in English grammar in secondary schools in Kenya. This study was anchored on Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory. A pragmatic paradigm was adopted using exploratory sequential mixed methods. A quasi-experimental, pre-test, and post-test design was adopted. The target population comprised of all the form two students and teachers of English in Teso North Sub-County. Stratified and simple random sampling was used to select 10 schools. Simple random sampling was used to select 509 students. Purposive and simple random were used to select 10 teachers. Data was generated using an interview schedule, observation schedule, questionnaire, and English Grammar Achievement Tests. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative data was analyzed using the narrative analysis technique and presented through narration and direct quotes. Findings revealed that grammar was predominantly assessed through gap-filling as well as question and answer method. Assessing grammar through cloze test and composition writing had a more positive influence (M = 16.02; SD = 3.51) than where it was not used (M = 14.12; SD = 3.33). Pearson Correlation revealed that assessment had a statistically significant relationship of r = .643, n = 509, p = .006 with students’ achievement in English grammar. The study concluded that cloze tests and composition writing are effective methods of assessing English grammar. It was recommended that the Ministry of Education should in-service teachers on the importance of assessing English grammar through these methods. This study recommends that teachers should assess English grammar using cloze tests and composition writing.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0758/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

INFLUENCE OF ASSESSMENT METHODS ON STUDENTS’ ACQUISITION OF ENGLISH READING SKILLS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KENYA

This article examines assessment methods used when teaching English reading. The study sought to ascertain the most frequently used assessment methods in the teaching of English reading and the influence of assessment methods used on the acquisition of English reading skills in Kenya. This study employed a descriptive survey research design and involved form three students and 40 teachers of English language from 20 public secondary schools drawn from Teso North Sub-county. The sample size was obtained using stratified and simple random sampling techniques. Data was generated using questionnaires, interview schedules, and classroom observation schedules. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics involves the computation of frequencies, means, standard deviations, and percentages. Inferential statistics included pairwise correlation and logistic regression analysis. The results show that teachers frequently used comprehension tests, diagnostic reading, and Cloze test to assess learners’ acquisition of English reading skills. While oral presentation, timed reading, and book reports were the least used assessment methods. The study findings confirmed that there was a significant relationship between assessment methods used and the acquisition of English reading skills. The study concludes that teachers of English language should use effective assessment methods as provided in the syllabus. There is a need for teachers’ professional development in pedagogy as they require knowledge of effective assessment methods for English reading skills.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0759/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

An Analysis of the Readability Level of Arabic Textbooks Published by the Ministry of Religious Affairs Through the Cloze test

The research investigates the readability level of Arabic textbooks published by the minister of religious affairs, especially the books for class IX of Arabic students measured through the cloze test. The researcher discussed this area because the readability aspect often needs more attention from textbook writers. The textbook writers sometimes use complex sentences without considering the age and cognitive level of the students, which impacts students' difficulty understanding the book's meaning. Furthermore, the teacher needs to evaluate the readability level of their occupation. The method of this research used qualitative research. The research sample is Class IX A of one of the MTs in Cirebon, consisting of 30 students. This research revealed six discourses in Arabic language textbooks of class IX students. Unfortunately, only three discourses are included in an instructional category appropriate to students' competency level, and two are included in the frustrated or difficult category. Meanwhile, one discourse consists of an independent or easy category. The overall average student score is 54%, which shows the books used for learning activities appropriate to the instructional level (Appropriate).

Variability in heritage and second language writers’ linguistic complexity: Roles of proficiency and motivational beliefs

AbstractThis study investigates the extent to which (a) Spanish heritage (HL) and second language (L2) writers’ linguistic complexity differs across register contexts and (b) Spanish proficiency and writing motivational beliefs differentially affect HL and L2 writers’ performance. Participants were 58 HL and 54 L2 Spanish learners who completed two persuasive writing tasks—the Email to Friend and Letter to Dean tasks—designed to be topically similar while eliciting different registers. Proficiency measures included an elicited imitation task (EIT) and a cloze test. Mixed-effects models indicated that both HL and L2 writers evidenced greater lexico-syntactic complexity in the Letter to Dean task; nonetheless, HL writers demonstrated more robust cross-register distinctions in syntactic complexity. The EIT and cloze test positively predicted syntactic and lexical complexity, respectively, although differential patterns were also observed by group. Intrinsic/interest and cognitive/linguistic value beliefs about Spanish writing emerged as positive and negative predictors of linguistic complexity, respectively.

A Study of Cloze Test in TEM-4 from the Perspective of Cohesion Theory

Cloze test has now become one of the core questions in various language tests. In Test for English Majors-Band 4 (TEM-4), cloze test accounts for 10% of the total score. However, cloze is also the most time-consuming and lowest-scoring test type for students. Therefore, this research aims to explore in-depth and discuss the cohesion devices that cloze tests of TEM-4 involve and strategies for coping with cloze. Results show that there are a total of 112 occurrences of cohesion devices in cloze. And the lexical cohesion device is the dominant one with 62 instances. Substitution occurs the least frequently (3 instances). In addition, specific examples are used to explain how to solve cloze questions based on cohesion theory. What’s more, it is proposed that students should comprehend solving skills based on cohesion theory and consolidate the foundation of language learning to improve the capability of coping with cloze. It is expected that English major students can benefit from this study during the TEM-4 preparation.

Applied Arabic Textbook Readability Level for University Students at Al-Balqa Applied University

Readability is considered one of the main indicators of students' ability to understand reading texts. The purpose of this study was to define the level of Applied Arabic textbook readability for university students at Al-Balqa Applied University in Jordan. In order to do so, Cloze Test was administrated on four texts that students didn't read before taken from the Applied Arabic textbook. A sample of (54) university students participated in the study. The results showed that the four texts were within the frustration level, as the students' results on the four texts ranged between (0.46-0.66). There were no statistically significant gender differences on the readability level; indicating that both male and female students are facing difficulty in reading and understanding the texts of books. The study suggested the need for experimentation of textbooks on students to determine their readability level before implementing them to students to be appropriate to students’ reading levels in order to address the problems students face while reading a text.

An Analysis of the Readability Level of Arabic Textbooks Published by the Ministry of Religious Affairs Through the Cloze Test

The research investigates the readability level of Arabic textbooks published by the minister of religious affairs, especially the books for class IX of Arabic students measured through the cloze test. The researcher discussed this area because the readability aspect often needs more attention from textbook writers. The textbook writers sometimes use complex sentences without considering the age and cognitive level of the students, which impacts students' difficulty understanding the book's meaning. Furthermore, the teacher needs to evaluate the readability level of their occupation. The method of this research used qualitative research. The research sample is Class IX A of one of the MTs in Cirebon, consisting of 30 students. This research revealed six discourses in Arabic language textbooks of class IX students. Unfortunately, only three discourses are included in an instructional category appropriate to students' competency level, and two are included in the frustrated or difficult category. Meanwhile, one discourse consists of an independent or easy category. The overall average student score is 54%, which shows the books used for learning activities appropriate to the instructional level (Appropriate).

The role of external factors on the reactivation of the heritage language of Turkish-German returnees.

This study investigates the heritage language performance of Turkish-German returnees upon their reintegration into Turkey and explores the impact of external factors on their proficiency in the (re-)activated heritage language (HL). Data collection involved the participation of 28 Turkish heritage speakers and a control group of 28 monolingual speakers. The language proficiency of both groups was assessed through a cloze test and an error correction task with a focus on converbial constructions, evidentiality and direct object case marking in Turkish. A sociolinguistic background questionnaire was used to obtain information about their language experiences. The study focused on understanding the individual and group differences in returnee's heritage language performance. Additionally, random forest analysis was employed to investigate the relative influence of external factors on individual variability within the returnee group. The analysis of results revealed notable group differences between the returnees and the control group, emphasizing the unique linguistic challenges faced by those who returned to Turkey. Within the returnee group, there was considerable individual variability in heritage language performance. The subsequent exploration of individual variation highlighted the significant role of external factors. Notably, the length of residence in Germany, the age at which participants returned to Turkey, and the frequency of Turkish language use in their migration context emerged as significant predictors of the returnee participants' proficiency in their (re-)activated HL. Surprisingly, formal contact with the dominant German language did not exert a substantial impact on the returnees' language proficiency, suggesting the nuanced influence of various external factors on heritage language development.

Closing the Gap: Automated Distractor Generation in Japanese Language Testing

Recent advances in natural language processing have increased interest in automatic question generation, particularly in education (e.g., math, biology, law, medicine, and languages) due to its efficiency in assessing comprehension. Specifically, multiple-choice questions have become popular, especially in standardized language proficiency tests. However, manually creating high-quality tests is time-consuming and challenging. Distractor generation, a critical aspect of multiple-choice question creation, is often overlooked, yet it plays a crucial role in test quality. Generating appropriate distractors requires ensuring they are incorrect but related to the correct answer (semantically or contextually), are grammatically correct, and of similar length to the target word. While various languages have seen research in automatic distractor generation, Japanese has received limited attention. This paper addresses this gap by automatically generating cloze tests, including distractors, for Japanese language proficiency tests, evaluating the generated questions’ quality, difficulty, and preferred distractor types, and comparing them to human-made questions through automatic and manual evaluations.

A preliminary investigation of stutteringand typical disfluencies in bilingual Polish‑English adults who stutter: A multiple cases approach

This study analyzes the frequency of stuttering and typical disfluencies in Polish‑English bilingual adults who stutter during cross‑linguistic dialogue, monologue, and oral reading contexts. Additionally, the relationship between English proficiency and stuttering and typical disfluency frequencies was examined. The study aims to contribute to the body of research regarding differential considerations between monolingual and bilinguals who stutter. Data collection took place via video conferencing. Participants first completed an English proficiency cloze test, where they entered missing words in a short English text. Following this, randomized dialogue, monologue, and oral reading speech samples in Polish and English were collected. The correlation between cloze test scores and frequency of stuttering and typical disfluency in the English samples was also examined. All participants experienced more stuttering in English (L2) than Polish (L1) during dialogue. Overall, participants had increased stuttering in L2 for at least one speaking task. Seventy one percent of participants had increased typical disfluencies in L2 for dialogue and monologue. Most participants evidenced an increase in stuttering and typical disfluencies in L2 compared to L1. The results suggest that language proficiency may share a relationship between frequency of stuttering and typical disfluencies, highlighting the importance of collecting cross‑linguistic speech data during assessment to reach clinical decisions related to fluency disorders in bilingual populations.