This study investigated the elicited imitation task (EIT) as a tool for measuring linguistic proficiency in a second/foreign (L2) language, focusing on French. Nonnative French speakers (n = 94) and native French speakers (n = 6) completed an EIT that included 50 sentences varying in length and complexity. Three raters evaluated productions on…

This study investigated the effects of teaching English prepositions using schematic diagrams inspired by cognitive linguistics in a computer-based tutorial system called the English Preposition Tutor. Training was designed based on the theoretical framework of the Competition Model and a cognitive linguistic analysis of prepositions. Sixty-four…

To date, there has been little empirical research exploring the relationship between implicit and explicit lexical knowledge (of collocations). As a first step in addressing this gap, two laboratory experiments were conducted that evaluate different conditions (enriched, enhanced, and decontextualized) under which both adult native speakers…

Reports on an experiment designed to test the reliability of the cloze procedure in second language testing, specifically as a measure of overall language proficiency, and as a measure whose results are independent of style. (AM)

Reexamines the construct of field independence/dependence and its measurement in second-language acquisition research, focusing on its role in language testing and good language-learner theories. (68 references) (Author/CB)

Considers whether scores on cloze items are generally sensitive to amounts of context in excess of 10 words on either side of them and, if not, when they are sensitive to long-range constraints. Concludes that some are sensitive to constraints that reach beyond 50 words on either side of a blank. (SED)

To determine if cloze items are sensitive to constraints across sentences, sequential and scrambled-type tests were given to native English speakers and Japanese adults studying ESL. Results showed cloze items embedded in prose are sensitive to discourse constraints ranging beyond the immediate limits of a sentence. (CHK)

Describes a study which investigated the intersentential sensitivity of the rational deletion cloze procedure. Eighty-four college-level students of German were divided into two sub-groups; one group completed a sequential cloze task, the other completed a scrambled cloze task. There were not significant differences in performance on the two…

Explores the relationship between student participation in the English as a second language classroom and proficiency in English, use of the target language outside the classroom, and field sensitivity. Results of cloze tests and in some cases, oral interviews, indicate no significant relationship. These findings are discussed with respect to the…

This study found that reliable, accurate, time-saving placement information for English as a Second Language students can be derived from a procedure whereby an open-ended cloze is truncated and remodeled into a multiple-choice format. (Author/POP)

Reports on research into the interactive roles played in the verbal comprehension processes by the sequence of textual elements, text-specific prior knowledge, and levels of language proficiency. Four cloze tests were administered to undergraduate and graduate native speakers of English and to undergraduate non-native speakers of English at three…

Presents one solution to the problem of eliciting, classifying, and measuring language learning errors in a longitudinal study, and, in addition, seeks to isloate particular difficulties of adult Iranian learners of English. (AM)

Some empirical data are presented concerning the use of cloze tests to measure children's proficiency in a bilingual educational program. The subjects were grade five students in their sixth year of a primary French immersion program. (Author/CFM)

Three oral testing methods (imitation, completion, and interview) were compared for reliability and validity with 143 adult Egyptian learners of English. Five components (raw score, fluency, pronunciation, grammar, and combined fluency-pronunciation-grammar) were analyzed for each method. Imitation showed the highest validity, with interview and…

Analysis of the use of a cloze-procedure test to measure the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) proficiency of Japanese college students revealed that the cloze test correlated significantly with an essay test and improved prediction of ESL proficiency, suggesting that carefully constructed cloze tests could be useful in integrative language…