Focused+Cloze

=**Focused Cloze...** = Focused Cloze is an instructional strategy using textual context clues to draw students’ attention to significant words they need to learn. Similar to the cloze in standardized language tests, Focused Cloze is a passage with words omitted and is such designed to invite readers to use the context to predict the missing words. But Focused Cloze is also different from a cloze test in that in the Focused Cloze only the important content vocabulary are taken out while the latter may ask test takers to complete the passage with functional words too. Cloze tests are often used to test students’ vocabulary, syntax, grammar as well as reading comprehension.

=**According to Janet Allen...** = The major rationale behind using Focused Cloze as a tool to teach academic vocabulary, according to Janet Allen (2007), is that students can benefit from working out the meaning of a word from its “rich context” (Allen, 2007, p. 40), and the process of getting the correct words from the context will help students to understand its meaning as well as the word’s properties.

Janet Allen also encouraged teachers to use this instructional strategy because she considered it as a highly engaging activity. The engagement, she wrote in the book, comes from the process of discussing and debating the word choices, inferring the information about the words, and using the words in context. She recommended it as a tool to “assess and build background knowledge in anticipation of content to be studied” (p. 42).

=**According to Kongji...** = While Focused Cloze can be used as an instructional strategy for teaching vocabulary, it needs to be used with great care. First, the cloze passages should be carefully designed so that a rich context for the omitted words is offered to help students decipher the meanings of the words and notice their lexical, syntactic, and pragmatic features. Inadequately designed cloze passages may not engage students in the process of identifying the word, instead will frustrate them. The following example of the cloze passage that Janet Allen has used in her book seems lack enough context clues to help students to figure out the words.

(Janet Allen (2007) //Inside Words//, p. 41) In the example above three words are omitted in the first sentence of this paragraph. Although there are some hints that readers can rely on to figure out the words, the context here is barren but not rich. Focused Cloze like this probably cannot engage students. Rather it might frustrate students because there are not enough context clues for them to draw on. Although I agree with Janet Allen that students can be highly engaged in doing properly designed Focused Cloze activities, this engagement can help students develop their vocabulary as well as their reading comprehension (Guthrie, Mcrae, & Klauda, 2007), I would suggest that teachers should be aware that randomly designed cloze passages cannot engage students.

Second, Focused Cloze should be used with caution also because research has documented some evidence that struggling readers have more difficulty in using context clues to understand what they are reading and to make connections across texts (Cain, Oakhill, & Lemmon, 2004; Kuhn & Stahl, 1998). This is because poor comprehenders do not engage in metacognition, whereas good comprehenders bring some level of awareness to their reading (Pressley & Afllerbach, 1995). Without conscious attention to the context, these groups of readers probably would not benefit from instructional strategy such as Focused Cloze.

Third, researchers also pointed out that context clues promote incidental word learning, not specific and thorough word learning as would occur through direct vocabulary instruction (Nation, 2011). As we help student develop their vocabulary using context clues, we should also recognize the limitations of this tool and make sure we do not over-apply it in reading instruction.

__**References:**__ Allen, J. (2007). //Inside words: Tools for teaching academic vocabulary grades 4-12//. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

Cain, K., Oakhill, J., & Lemmon, K. (2004). Individual differences in the inference of word meanings from context: the influence of reading comprehension, vocabulary knowledge, and memory capacity. //Journal of Educational Psychology//, //96//, 671-681. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.96.4.671

Guthrie, J. T., Mcrae, A., & Klauda, S. L. (2007). Contributions of Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction to Knowledge About Interventions for Motivations in Reading. //Educational Psychologist//, //42//, 237-250. doi:10.1080/00461520701621087

Kuhn, M., & Stahl, S. (1998). Teaching children to learn word meanings from context: A synthesis and some questions. //Journal of Literacy Research//, //30//(1), 119-138. doi:10.1080/10862969809547983

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Nation, I. S. P. (2011). Research into practice: Vocabulary. //Language Teaching//, //44//, 529-539. doi:10.1017/S0261444811000267

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Pressley, M., & Afflerbach, P. (1995). //Verbal protocols of reading: The nature of constructively responsive reading//. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

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