A Study On The Correlation Between Junior Middle School Students’ English Discourse Cohesion Ability And Cloze Test Score From The Perspective Of Discourse Analysis Theory

With the reform of the English education curriculum and the policy changes of English tests in senior high school entrance examinations,it can be found that English tests tend to integrate knowledge points into discourse to examine students’ learning achievement.Besides,the New English Curriculum Standard for Compulsory Education(2022)further clearly points out that middle school students should have the means to identify and use cohesive devices and coherence in discourse.Cloze test,as a kind of English test in the senior high school entrance examination,has high requirements for middle school students’ English discourse cohesion and coherence recognition.Based on this,the present study attempts to explore the relationship between discourse cohesion and Cloze tests’ scores of middle school students.Based on the theories of discourse analysis,Gestalt theory,and Redundancy theory,the present study investigates 138 students of a middle school in Hohhot with a questionnaire,classroom observation and interviews.The following three questions are raised: 1.What is the overall situation of middle school students completing English Cloze tests? 2.What is the correlation between middle school students’ discourse cohesion ability and English Cloze tests’ scores? 3.What are the differences and reasons between the high and low score groups students in discourse cohesion ability?According to the above three questions,this paper used quantitative and qualitative research methods.Firstly,introduced the feasibility of introducing cohesion theory into Cloze teaching.Then,investigated middle school students’ discourse cohesion ability,and explored the correlation between middle school students’ English discourse cohesion ability and their Cloze scores.Finally,it analyzed the differences in the discourse cohesion ability of students at different levels and their reasons.The final research results showed that middle school students’ overall discourse cohesion ability is on the upper-middle level;middle school students’ discourse cohesion ability and its sub-dimensions have a significant positive correlation with their Cloze tests’ scores;there are significant differences in grammatical cohesion and lexical cohesion between the high and low score groups’ students in English Cloze test.The main reasons are the differences in students’ awareness of cohesion,problem-solving strategies,grammar and vocabulary knowledge.Therefore,in future English Cloze teaching in middle schools,teachers should input the concept and usage of discourse cohesion for students,and teach them the strategies for using discourse cohesion to solve problems.At the same time,they should strengthen the cultivation of students’ grammar knowledge,help students find lexical chains in English Cloze tests,and expand the depth and breadth of students’ vocabulary learning by lexical cohesion.