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This study investigated the underlying factor structure of second language (L2) cloze test performance as explained by a theoretical model including the following hypothetical constructs: cloze-taking ability, knowledge of language, knowledge of text content, and knowledge of contextual constraints. Eight cloze tests reflecting the posited factors were constructed and administered to 182 Francophone, university-level students. The factors were examined separately and in combination through a causal model building process. A model composed of three orthogonal factors was confirmed and accepted as the best explanation of the data. The results indicate that cloze performance is dependent upon knowledge of a specific language (second language or first language) and nonlinguistic-specific knowledge related to close-taking ability that crosses over linguistic boundaries. Cloze has been considered as an overall L2 proficiency measure. This study empirically demonstrates that factors other than language are significantly contributing to cloze performance. It also demonstrates the potential of a causal modeling approach.

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The purpose of this study was to compare and to describe deaf versus hearing readers' sensitivity to contextual build-up by examining each group's successive approximations of deleted noun meanings as constructed in cumulative cloze tasks. The methodology of this study, a 2 X 5 X 2 factorial design, focused on successive predictions of deleted noun meanings in five cumulative cloze tasks completed by five deaf and five hearing readers at fourth-, sixth-, eighth-, tenth-, and twelfth-grade levels. Both for deaf and hearing readers, sentences within the five individual cumulative cloze passages where the greatest gain in comprehension occurred (MG sentences) comprised an alternative cloze test for five other readers at all five grade levels. The results indicate that both deaf readers and hearing readers predict meaning more accurately given passage-level versus sentence-level contextual constraints. On this particular cumulative cloze task, deaf readers at grades eight, ten, and twelve performed similarly to hearing readers at grades eight, ten and twelve respectively. However, deaf readers in grades four and six performed significantly lower than their hearing counterparts. Hearing readers at all five grade levels and deaf readers at the eighth-, tenth-, and twelfth-grade levels increased in cumulative cloze accuracy as the number of exposure point in passage-level text increased. By the sixth, final exposure points in passage-level text, no significant differences were found in deaf versus hearing readers' predictions of target nouns at grade levels eight, ten, and twelve. Deaf readers tended to abandon correct choices after predicting target nouns more often than did hearing readers. Additionally, deaf readers returned to abandoned correct choices less often than did hearing readers. Both semantic and grammatical acceptability of cumulative cloze responses improved for deaf as well as for hearing readers as the amount of available contextual information increased in passage-level text. MG sentences, proved to be more semantically and grammatically acceptable under passage-level versus sentence-level contextual conditions. The results of this study indicate that given passage-level contextual constraints, deaf as well as hearing readers construct meaning similarly. / Ed. D.

Tao Sim-cheung, Victoria. / Thesis (M.A.Ed.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-115). / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.ii / ABSTRACT --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.v / LIST OF TABLES --- p.viii / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.x / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction / Background of the study --- p.1 / Significance of the study --- p.5 / Encouraging students to become better readers --- p.5 / Exploring the impact of coope- rative learning --- p.6 / Understanding the potential of CALL --- p.9 / Description of key terms --- p.11 / Cloze procedure --- p.11 / Cooperative learning condition --- p.12 / CALL (Computer-assisted language learning) --- p.13 / Purpose of the study --- p.13 / Null hypotheses --- p.14 / Outline of the thesis --- p.15 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Review of Related Literature / Literature related to cloze procedure --- p.17 / Historical view of cloze procedure --- p.17 / Variations of cloze procedure --- p.18 / Cloze procedure-- researchable and teachable --- p.20 / Literature related to cooperative learning --- p.23 / Efficacy of cooperative learning --- p.23 / Individualistic and cooperative learning on student achievement --- p.25 / Cooperative vs individual completion of a cloze passage --- p.27 / Literature related to CALL --- p.29 / Practicability of CALL --- p.29 / Interactive CALL for groups --- p.33 / Automated cloze procedure as research and teaching tools --- p.35 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Methodology / Research design --- p.37 / Material and courseware design --- p.39 / Sampling design --- p.41 / Procedure --- p.44 / Variables --- p.47 / Statistical instrumentals --- p.47 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Results / Tests for the null hypotheses --- p.49 / Hypothesis 1 --- p.50 / Hypothesis 2 --- p.54 / Hypothesis 3 --- p.57 / Hypothesis 4 --- p.66 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Discussions and Limitations / Discussions --- p.70 / Evaluations of CALL --- p.70 / Individualistics versus cooperative CALL --- p.78 / Effectiveness of cooperative learning strategies --- p.80 / Superiority of the narrative text structure --- p.85 / Interactions between ability and achievement --- p.87 / Reflection of the attitudinal score --- p.89 / Limitations --- p.89 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Conclusions and Recommendations / Conclusions --- p.92 / Recommendations --- p.94 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.98 / Chapter APPENDIX A --- Pretest --- p.116 / Chapter APPENDIX B --- Posttest & Retention Test --- p.118 / Chapter APPENDIX C --- Attitude Questionnaire --- p.121 / Chapter APPENDIX D --- Item-Total Statistics of Questionnaire --- p.127

Cloze procedure involves the skills of thinking, understanding , reading and writing based on the learners underlying knowledge of reading comprehension and writing subskills such as grammar and sentence construction. It is regarded as a very efficient test for measuring students integrative competence in English, and has been used in most of the important English tests in China. It is also used as a teaching instrument to help students to improve their reading competence. However, a majority of students perform poorly in cloze tests and they regard it as the most difficult and most unpopular part of the English test. The aim of this study was to find out the problem that Chinese students have with cloze tests and to determine whether they are associated with the inefficient use of reading strategies.