The C-test is a type of gap-filling test designed to efficiently measure second language proficiency. The typical C-test consists of several short paragraphs with the second half of every second word deleted. The words with deleted parts are considered as items nested within the corresponding paragraph. Given this testlet structure, it is commonly…

Originally designed to measure reading and passage comprehension in L1 readers, cloze tests continue to be used for L2 assessment purposes. However, there remain disputes about whether or not cloze items can measure beyond local comprehension information, as well as whether or not they are purely a test of reading alone, or if performance can be…

In view of the ubiquitous increase in the use of C-tests, which are almost unanimously believed to measure general language proficiency, this study investigates whether the aspects of language proficiency tapped into by the C-test format are the same when the test is taken by a learner population other than that of foreign language learners.…

Although there are many methods available for assessing text comprehension, the cloze test is not widely acknowledged as one of them. Critiques on cloze testing center on its supposedly limited ability to measure comprehension beyond the sentence. However, these critiques do not hold for all types of cloze tests; the particular configuration of a…

Cloze tests have been the subject of numerous studies regarding their function and use in both first language and second language contexts (e.g., Jonz & Oller, 1994; Watanabe & Koyama, 2008). From a validity standpoint, one area of investigation has been the extent to which cloze tests measure reading ability beyond the sentence level.…

The "cloze" test is one possible investigative instrument for predicting text comprehensibility. Conceptual coding of student replacement of deleted words has been considered to be more valid than exact coding, partly because conceptual coding seemed fairer to poorer readers. This paper reports a quantitative study of 447 Australian…

This investigation intends to assess the effectiveness of a lexical recognition test (Meara & Buxton, 1987) as a placement tool that distinguishes among levels of two groups of students: Spanish heritage language learners (HLL) and second language learners (SLL). Three hundred and thirty university students from four different levels completed a…

The purpose of the College English Test (CET) is to examine the English proficiency of undergraduate students in China and ensure that Chinese undergraduates reach the required English levels specified in the National College English Teaching Syllabus (NCETS). In accordance with the courses on the syllabus, the CET consists of three tests: Band 4…

Discusses two studies that explore the possibilities of adopting the C-Test (which involves the deletion of the second half of every other word in the text, leaving the first and last sentence intact) for testing Hebrew. Suggests the test be used with the cloze test for assessing similar things. (SED)

It is said that one important aspect of education is the production of coherent discourse (Halliday and Hasan, 1985). This is the speaker's or the writer's ability to organize relevant meanings in relation to each other, and this in turn requires the establishment of "chain interaction"--relations between components of a message--in a text. The…

Investigates how skilled and less skilled readers answered a gap-filling test in order to examine whether such tests can measure text-level processing ability. Japanese learners of English completed a gap-filling test while thinking aloud about their test-taking processes. Results showed both skilled and less-skilled readers used text-level…

Discusses problems encountered with the cloze test and describes the development and use of an alternate test, the C-Test. The C-Test consists of a number of short tests. Beginning in the second sentence, the second half of every second word is deleted until the required number of mutilations is reached. (SED)

Compares Japanese women's (N=159) reading comprehension of two original passages in English written for second-language consumers. Results supported the hypothesis that minor changes for unfamiliar cultural elements would result in a significantly better performance on cloze tests. (Author/CB)

This study investigated the feasibility of C-testing as a valid measure of language proficiency, which avoids the problems with cloze testing with native and non-native speakers of English. Results refute the claims on C-testing. (JL)

Studies the application of the letter-deletion procedure (LDP), which matches the advantages of both rational deletion and C-Tests and avoids their disadvantages to English-as-a-Second-Language tests. LDP flexibly reduces redundancy in a text by deleting letters in item words according to specified principles. (Author/LMO)