Cloze reading is a technique used to test reading comprehension while teaching the student about a topic. It involves presenting a passage to students, who insert words as they read to complete and construct meaning from the text. Words are deleted from a passage according to a word-count formula or other criteria, and the learner inserts the missing words using context clues. This procedure can be used as an engagement strategy or a diagnostic reading assessment technique. Cloze reading can be used in content area lessons throughout grade levels that involve reading materials such as textbooks, magazine articles, and ancillary reading materials.
Cloze reading was developed by a psychologist and actually started out as a readability test for texts in 1953. It was developed based on the Gestalt concept of “Closure.” Teachers quickly recognized its value and cloze has now developed into an effective reading assessment and strategy. By removing key words and using words in learners’ vocabulary lists, cloze forces the brain outside of the normal flow of reading. Instead, readers must “recognize the interrelationships of language and to develop an awareness of sequence, both of which could help prediction” .
Cloze reading can be used to solidify learning and can even be used as a studying technique. It is a contextual analysis strategy that helps students learn to predict and verify word meaning of unfamiliar words or familiar words that have new/unusual meanings. When preparing the final draft of the passage, it is important to make all blanks of equal length to avoid including visual clues about the lengths of omitted words. Teachers can measure progress through teacher observation, conferencing, student journaling, and cloze passage as informal assessment.
