Instructional applications of the cloze technique
Keith J. Thomas · Literacy Research and Instruction · 1978
This report features ways in which the CLOZE procedure, as generally used in the formal assessment of readability and/or reading achievement, has been modified for various instructional purposes. A rationale for using closure tasks to augment existing reading methods is developed on the basis of psycholinguistic research and information processing theory. Examples of CLOZE exercises designed to develop a variety of reading behaviors are illustrated. Sample activities include model exercises in the use of general context clues, content‐context clues, and word identification skills including phonic generalizations and morphemic analysis. Exercises for the study of relationships cued by function words, pronoun and antecedent relationships, and organizational patterns of paragraph development are also illustrated. The article concludes with a three‐phase teaching procedure recommended for implementing CLOZE as an instructional technique.