Case Study On The Influence Of Discourse Analysis Competence On The Practice Of English Cloze Test

According to the English Curriculum Standards (Experimental)(2003), the goal of English teachingin senior high school is to develop the students’ intergrating skills in using language. National MatriculationEnglish Test (NMET) is supposed to be an effective means to test the students’comprehensive Englishcompetence, in which CLOZE as a comprehensive test can objectively reflect the students’ intergratingskills in using language, for it combines reading comprehension and vocabulary using into one. As one ofthe most important items of college entrance examination, the majority of students consider CLOZE moredifficult and hard to get a high mark. By analyzing the cloze tests in NMET in recent years，the author ofthis paper has found out that CLOZE lays more and more stress on students’ ability in discoursecomprehension. As a consequence，it is suggested that discourse analysis should be applied to theproblem—solving process of cloze. The analysis of the students’ test score and the questionnaires showsthat lacking of discourse knowledge contributes a lot to their failure. Therefore, the teachers shouldconsciously guide the students to use the knowledge of the discourse analysis to the problem—solvingprocess of cloze, and which may improve the students’ reading comprehension and problem-solving ability.At the beginning of this study, the students’ first test score and the questionnaires are analyzed in orderto find out the main causess for the failure and unfamiliarity of the Discourse Analysis Theory. And thenthe teaching experiment is done to guide the students in using the discourse analysis theory in CLOZE. Thestructures of narrative texts, expositive texts and argumentative texts are analyzed, which can show the clueof the text and thus help the students understand the text on the whole. Next, the knowledge of cohesion,coherence and context of the text in teaching practice of CLOZE are delivered and strenghtened. In themeanwhile, the teaching process under the guidance of the theory is carried out in Class2of Grade1inTangyin No.1Senior High School. Finally, the data of the three tests in different stages are discussed indetail.The major findings of the study show that the conscious application of the discourse analysis theory tothe problem-solving process of CLOZE can help improve the students’ discourse analysis competence andthen improve their problem-solving ability and the accuracy of using lanaguage. This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter1is the introduction of the whole study, which mainlyintroduces the research background, motivation and objectives of the study. Chapter2briefly reviews thetheoretical basis of this study, including the theoretical foundation and categories of CLOZE, and someprevious studies home and abroad; then the properties of the cloze in NMET from2007to2011areanalyzed; Discourse Analysis Theory is introduced as well. Chapter3presents the research methodology ofthe study, which consists of the research questions, participants, methods and procedures. Chapter4presents the major results and discussion about them. Chapter5concludes this study with the majorfindings of the study, along with some pedagogical implications.