RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FIELD DEPENDENCE/INDEPENDENCE COGNITIVE STYLE AND PERFORMANCE ON CLOZE TEST FOR KOREAN STUDENTS OF FRENCH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCE)

Recently, a growing body of literature has been accumulating on using the cloze procedure as an evaluating device for assessing overall proficiency in the foreign language. There are two areas of cloze test that have not received proper attention: (1) the relationship between the cloze test and individual student differences, and (2) the impact of the cloze procedure on students whose native language or language being studied is not English.;The second area of cloze which has received little attention stems from its limited application to English speakers or ESL learners. There is little reason to assume that conclusions from previous researchers can be generalized to the case of other languages.;The main purpose of this study has been to ascertain if there is any relationship between performance on cloze tests and FD/I cognitive construct. Secondarily, this study has attempted to see if the various research results obtained from the previous cloze-based studies are applicable to Korean students of French as a foreign language taught in a specific Korean educational environment.;The 221 students majoring in French formed the sample. Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) assessed the field independence of each student. Two cloze tests were administered and the scores were examined to see how they relate to those on GEFT. In addition, Pimsleur French Proficiency Test and the students' GPA were used for the purpose of comparison and validation with the cloze tests.;One learner factor which has received scholarly attention is field dependence/independence (FD/I) cognitive style. Interestingly enough, there is a theoretical match which makes an impression that FI testees are in a more favorable situation answering cloze items than the FDs.;Contrary to expectations, performance on the cloze test was not affected by the student's FD/I cognitive style. Second, the observations made in the previous cloze-based studies were confirmed. In particular, (1) the validity of the cloze test was demonstrated by the high correlation with the other proficiency measure, (2) there was a high correlation between the exact-word and acceptable word scoring methods, (3) the cloze test clearly discriminated the students by instructional levels, whatever text is used. The above findings suggest the possibility of applying the cloze procedure to the Korean setting, regardless of the individual student differences in FD/I cognitive style. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).