语言测试作业

1、Analysis of Cloze tests Abstract: The paper firstly reviews the development of the cloze test. The cloze test originated as a means of assessing the difficulty of a reading test and many researchers believe that the cloze test is a valid and economical way to test reading comprehension ability. The

2、validity of cloze test as measurement of reading skills has long been a controversial topic in the field of pragmatics. In order to understand whether the cloze test is a highly valid way to test reading comprehension,Key words: cloze procedure, multiple-choice, validity, informationIntroductionCloz

3、e tests are prose passages, usually a paragraph or more in length, from which certain words have been deleted. In such tests, test takers are required to supply the missing words, using “linguistic knowledge, textual knowledge and knowledge of the world” (Cohen 1980:97). Initially, the cloze tests o

4、riginated in the 1950s, which were introduced by Taylor, were used only as a means of assessing the difficulty of a reading test for native speakers. And later, it became a popular method for measuring the suitability of text for a particular audience. After Taylor, the cloze tests came to be used i

5、n L2 testing, but it did not get popular until 1970s .Before that time tests were devised to measure performance or recognition of separate sounds, specific grammatical features, or vocabulary items. Since language proficiency is indivisible, one of tests which would directly tap the single indivisi

6、ble faculty of overall proficiency is the most well-known cloze tests. Today it is more general to recognize that cloze procedures are more suitable to assess readers' abilities than to measure the readability of text. Cloze testing is widely used now to assess the abilities of readers, usually

7、combined with other tests measuring grammar skills and writing ability.Multiple-choice cloze test are usually seen in all kinds of tests in China. It was popular because its scoring was objective; it was easy to use and analyze; it used the text itself for analysis; and it yields high correlations t

8、o other formulas. Many researchers believe and some studies have indicated that the cloze tests might also be valid and economical ways of measuring reading ability or test reading comprehension ability.Theoretic Background of Cloze Tests The word "Cloze" comes from the word "closure&

9、quot;, relating to the concept of closure, the human tendency to complete a partly finished pattern, to pick out key words and rely on language repetition in English discourse. It originates from Gestalt psychology, which holds that integrity of human consciousness is the most intrinsic feature of p

10、sychology. Therefore, it is a sub-consciously-motivated tendency to fill up the empty when one is observing an object or picture. The theory assumes that in figuring out the missing word, the mind goes through a process of sampling, predicting, testing, and confirming the appropriate word choice. In

11、 this procedure, words are deleted from the text and readers are asked to fill in the blanks. By constructing the meaning from the available words and completing the text, the reader achieves "closure". Among the deleted words, lexical ones usually take up 65 percent to 75 percent and func

12、tional ones, 25 percent to 35 percent. The test measures the student's ability to select appropriate words if occasional gaps occur in a passage, based on their ability to infer meaning from context and cultural experience. The argument is that this process involves both recognition skills (requ

13、ired in discrete formal testing) and the production of a significant content (required in written passages). In theory at least, the cloze test is an integrated rather than a formal test. It requires test-takers to process the components of language simultaneously, much like what happens when people

14、 communicate. The advantage is that, as an integrative method, it is also quite easy to prepare and administer. It can be marked efficiently and objectively. Cloze scores reflect both the difficulty of the text and the readers abilities or resources. Controversies about cloze testsCloze procedure co

15、nsists of deleting words in a text and asking the reader to fill in the appropriate or a similar word. Cloze is thought to offer a better index of comprehensibility. The ability to identify the missing word or to insert a satisfactory substitute for the original word indicates that the reader compre

16、hends the content of the text. However, critics suggest that Cloze is inappropriate for measuring text or reader's abilities in languages other than their native language. The results of close testing reflect the reader's basic intuition about the structure and vocabulary of the target langu

17、age - and that does not exist for the language student. There is controversy regarding the use of cloze tests in measuring the readers global reading comprehension ability. This controversy is based on the fact that cloze is a subjective evaluation that mirrors the language ability as well as backgr

18、ound of information of the person taking the test. The validity of the cloze procedure as measurement of reading skills has long been argued in the field of pragmatics. Much empirical work on the cloze tests has been focused on determining whether or not cloze tests can measure subjects reading skil

19、ls and whether or not the use of cloze tests can improve subjects reading ability. Heaton claims that the most common purpose of a cloze test is to measure reading comprehension (Heaton, 1986). As we know, the test of reading comprehension by using cloze tests may turn out to be a test of grammar or

20、 vocabulary. Researches regarding strategies for taking cloze tests are interested in determining whether cloze tests actually measure global reading skills as they are commonly purported to. Test takers do not use the co-text for clues to fill the blanks. In cloze procedure tests, more word-level r

21、eading skills and immediate sentence contexts are used to fill in the blanks. Cohen (1984) has studied the strategies for taking the cloze tests and found that perhaps only a quarter of non-native respondents read the entire cloze passage before responding. Though these views are shared by other cou

22、ntries, for want of a better technique, cloze procedure is widely used. It is also suggested that the cloze tests could be used for assessing learners progress of second or foreign languages. However, proficiency tests such as the cloze do have some limitations. For one thing, they are not sensitive

23、 tests of short-term gains. A proficiency test generally would not show much if any improvement over a two- to three-week period. Moreover, controversy arises in scoring. There are two possible ways to score cloze tests. One is to give credit for only the exact word from the story, called the exact

24、word method. Another is to allow full credit for equivalent words as well, namely, the acceptable word method. The first method is quite economical, but might discourage the productive skills of students. And, although the second one is generally considered to be more “fair”, it is difficult for tea

25、chers who are non-native English speakers to choose acceptable equivalent words. Problems in scoring give rise to multiple-choice cloze tests, in which optional items are provided as clues. At the same time, multiple choice cloze tests should be designed carefully to avoid encouraging guessing the c

26、orrect optional item. Tests paper analysisIn order to concentrate on whether the cloze tests actually measure global reading skills and understand what cloze tests measure in Chinese context, the following parts will be focused on the effects of the multiple-choice cloze tests (M-C cloze),which inva

27、riably occur in NMETs in China. The analysis selects multiple-choice cloze tests in NMET in the year of 2004 in Guangdong to conduct researches on the content validity of the cloze test. All of the selections are stories in a length of about 260-300 words with twenty stems in each cloze text. Test-t

28、akers are required to choose the correct answer among four optional items for a stem. Deletion does not occur in the first sentence so that it will help test-takers to predicate the theme or topic of the text. Theoretically, the span between deletions determines the difficulty of the test. The short

29、er the span is, the higher the difficulty is. As a matter of fact, the cloze tests are at a lower difficulty with a every twelve words span between deleted words in order that sufficient clues can be provided for test-takers. Most of the deletions are lexical items like nouns, verbs, adjectives, and

30、 adverbs whereas few are function items. The four choices for the same stem are in the same lexical category and semantic category. The cloze tests focus on testing items in contexts. Bachman (1985) developed a hierarchical classification framework for cloze item types according to the context infor

31、mation: 1.within clause 2.across clause, within sentence 3.across sentence, within text 4.extra-textual. As examples suggested, most of the items can be completed correctly by using clause-level, sentence-level, text-level or extra textual information in their reading process. Therefore, the items g

32、enerally tapped global-level reading ability, supporting again the validity of the test. It is essential that names of places or individuals, dates, numbers, are not to be tested for it is hard for test takers to spot clues in the text. In fact, each cloze item does not carry the same amount or kind

33、 of information, some items can be completed by using local linguistic knowledge (e.g., prepositions, idioms, co location ) while others need textual understanding .Therefore, depending on the type of words deleted, test-takers are likely to activate different types of knowledge and/or ability. In o

34、ther words, the lexical association in the process may more properly be seen as a result of using extra-textual information. It is not always necessary to read a wide range of text to activate schemata. The information itself located at the clause-level may activate students background knowledge. In

35、 general, test-takers who have sensitivity about the type of information necessary to answer the items, are able to employ different types of information according to their needs in understanding the text. Test-takers who can not perform significantly may be those who are not able to use text-level

36、information and put heavy emphasis on local grammatical information. To detect the cohesive structure in the text, test-takers may employ reading skills like skimming and scanning in complete the task. On the other hand, clause-level information is used to confirm their answers. Cases in the test pa

37、per support the content validity of the cloze text: 1. “She wrote down a _50 , and held it out to me, (A. letter B. name C. note D. number)”The word “it ”occur in the latter part of the sentence constraint the choice which should be a word refers to something can be “held”.2. “She wants a 51 immedia

38、tely. In fact, you would have to start tomorrow by cooking a dinner for ten people.”(A. cook B. help C. teacher D. secretary)” The phrase “cooking a dinner” provides a hint for the correct choice.3. “I spent the next few hours 55 cook books.” (A. borrowing B. buying C. reading D. writing) Test-taker

39、s have to rely on textual-level informal in the former part to made a correct decision, such as “Oh yes,” said I 52 having cooked for more than four in my life.It is a pity that there are still some cases which need to be improved.1. “I was wildly excited, and as 37 as if I were going on the stage.

40、(A. proud B. please C. nervous D. worried)”The phrase “on the stage” is supposed to provide a hint to test-takers. Actually, they may have different experience and feeling on the stage, so the phrase will mislead them to make a mistake.2. The simple atmosphere of the office 39 me. (A. calmed B. excited C. frightened D. disturbed) The word “simple” confuses test-takers although it is supposed to the clue of the solution. As the correct choice is A, the word “easy” may be a better replacement for “simple”. 3. The woman looked carefully at me _40_ through her