An Empirical Study Into The Cloze Tests Of Shmet

This thesis reviewed the origin and development of the cloze procedure, a widely used but controversial testing technique. Types and applications of the cloze test have also been presented to give an overview of it. In addition, more emphasis has been put on the introduction of its validity, especially its relation with reading, to pave the way for the research design.In order to provide a clear picture of the cloze tests used in the 21 years of Matriculation English Test of Shanghai (SHMET), EFL teaching in secondary education in Shanghai as well as the history and development of SHMET have been viewed in retrospect. On the basis of the retrospection, the cloze test in SHMET has been discussed in its formats, themes, difficulty level and validity.Based on the literature review and the description of the cloze test of SHMET, two questions have been raised: (1) What ability do the cloze tests in SHMET measure? Do they measure reading ability or grammar knowledge? (2) How has the design of the cloze test in SHMET developed over the past 21 years? To answer these questions, the present researcher has conducted the comparative study.The subjects of this study are 72 senior 2 students from a high school in Putuo District. They are asked to do 3 tests of SHMET, including the grammar, the cloze and the reading tests extracted from SHMET of 1989, 1999 and 2006. Their scores of the 3 tests are put into my computer for correlation study through SPSS (version 10.0). The result of the data analysis shows that the cloze test in SHMET is now more related to reading comprehension and less related to grammar. It proves that the design of the cloze test in SHMET has been improved over the past 21 years.Besides the above study, seventeen English teachers who have the experience of teaching senior 3 students are invited to finish a questionnaire after the students have finished the tests in order to retrieve their opinions about the cloze tests in SHMET and their way to help students prepare for them. The analysis of their answers indicates that they have been aware of the fact that the cloze tests in SHMET measure students reading ability now rather than their knowledge of grammar or vocabulary. Correspondingly, some of the teachers have changed their way to teach the cloze test, although a few others still lack efficient method.Based on this study, therefore, the researcher suggests that test designers should always keep in mind the test objectives, the test takers and the best way to use a specific technique, not only in the design of the cloze test, but also other tasks. Their carefulness will avoid misusing testing techniques and therefore produce a positive backwash effect to language teaching.