Can Cloze Tests Really Improve Second Language Learners Reading Comprehension Skills?

Cloze testing is a widely-used procedure to test learners reading comprehension in learning a language, but little is known if it can really improve learners reading comprehension skills. This paper attempts to seek answers to this question by comparing the cloze test scores of two groups of students (Experimental versus Control) undertaking Chinese Second Language (CSL) and measuring their Z-score differences. The paper intends to find out if the Experimental Group which received one cloze test per week for a whole school term of 10-week duration could achieve better reading comprehension test results than the Control Group which received no extra cloze tests in between the first and last week of the term. The subjects were 26, Year 10 students aged between 14-15 years old from an independent K-12 boys school in Melbourne, Australia. They were randomly divided into two separate groups with identical proficiency level in CSL. The cloze tests selected for this study were from the textbook series entitled Boya Chinese-Elementary Start Vol.2 (Li, et al., 2005), which were appropriate to the proficiency level of the subjects. Data were collected in class after each cloze test. Analysis of the data was conducted at the inter-group level examining the standard deviation and Z-scores of each group. The study found that there was not much difference between the two groups. Implications for teaching reading in CSL were discussed, which could also apply to the teaching of reading in other Languages Other Than English (LOTE)