Cloze as a Technique For Improving Comprehension

Author

Janet Keller

Date of Graduation

Spring 1976

Degree

Master of Science in Education in Literacy

Department

Reading, Foundations, and Technology

Committee Chair

James Layton

Abstract

The improvement of reading comprehension is a goal of educators. However, many methods designed to improve reading comprehension emphasize only the literal level of comprehension through recognition or recall of isolated facts, figures, and dates. The cloze procedure, however, may be helpful in developing all aspects of a student's reading comprehension skills. This study was conducted in order to answer the following questions: 1. Will instruction through the use of the cloze procedure result in significant increases in reading comprehension test scores as measured by the Nelson Reading Test for the experimental and the control groups? 2. Will instruction through the use of the cloze procedure result in significant increases in cloze test scores after eight weeks of cloze instruction with the experimental group? 3. Will there be a significant difference between the post-test scores of the experimental and control groups made on the Nelson Reading Test? 4. Will there be a significant difference between the post-test scores of the experimental and control groups made on the cloze test? The purpose of this study was to provide information about the effectiveness of using the cloze procedure as a technique for improving reading comprehension skills. The results of this study may be helpful to teachers in planning instruction designed to improve reading comprehension skills. Analysis of the data led to the following conclusions: l. Instruction with the cloze procedure did not appear to significantly increase reading achievement scores as measured by the Nelson Reading Test although there was a gain obtained during an eight week period that would normally be expected to occur during a one year period. 2. Cloze instruction did result in significant improvement in cloze test scores following an eight week instruction period with the cloze procedure. 3. Although significant levels were not reached on the Nelson Reading Test scores, gains were achieved. It seems possible that the Nelson Reading Test measured general reading achievement and may not have been an appropriate instrument to use to measure the true increase in cloze test scores.

Subject Categories

Other Education

Copyright

© Janet Keller

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Dissertation/Thesis

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