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What
is Cloze Procedure?
Cloze
procedure is a technique in which words are deleted from a passage
according to a word-count formula or various other criteria. The
passage is presented to students, who insert words as they read
to complete and construct meaning from the text. This procedure
can be used as a diagnostic reading assessment technique.
What
is its purpose?
It
is used:
- to
identify students' knowledge and understanding of the reading
process
- to
determine which cueing systems readers effectively employ to construct
meaning from print
- to
assess the extent of students' vocabularies and knowledge of a
subject
- to
encourage students to monitor for meaning while reading
- to
encourage students to think critically and analytically about
text and content
How
do I do it?
To
prepare materials for Cloze exercises, any of the following techniques
may be used:
- Select
a self-contained passage of a length appropriate for the grade
level of the students being assessed. Use materials easily read
by the students.
- Leave
the first and last sentences and all punctuation intact.
- Carefully
select the words for omission using a word-count formula, such
as every fifth word or other criteria. To assess students' knowledge
of the topic or their abilities to use semantic cues, delete content
words which carry meaning, such as nouns, main verbs, adjectives
and adverbs. To assess students' use of syntactic cues, delete
some conjunctions, prepositions and auxiliary words.
- When
preparing the final draft of the passage, make all blanks of equal
length to avoid including visual clues about the lengths of omitted
words.
- Have
the students read the entire passage before they fill in the blanks.
- Encourage
the students to fill each blank if possible.
- Although
there should be no time limit for this exercise, the time necessary
for completion should be noted.
- Suggest
that students reread the completed passage.
How
can I adapt it?
Examples:
- Supply
choices for the blanks.
Just
as ____________have fur, birds have ____________.
(coats,
animals) (feathers, wings)
- When
learners have used the technique described above and can replace
the appropriate words from the choices supplied, provide passages
in which every fifth word or every tenth word is arbitrarily deleted
and only a letter or two of the correct word is available, perhaps
a beginning consonant or consonant blend:
With
the price of f______ going up all the t______, more people are trying
t___ raise some of their f_____ in their own back y______.
- When
the learners do well with this task, indicate only the blank with
no additional clues. Accept any word that seems a reasonable fit:
Example:
Instead
of grass, you _______ rows of lettuce, tomatoes, ________ beans
lining the fences _______ in the biggest city.
Teacher
Resources
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