What Is Cloze Deletion?

Cloze deletion is a fill-in-the-blank technique: a word is removed from a sentence or text, and you have to supply it from the surrounding context. In language learning it is used both as a test of reading ability and as a flashcard format that makes you recall a word in a real sentence rather than as an isolated translation.

Origin: Taylor's cloze procedure (1953)

The method was introduced by Wilson L. Taylor in a 1953 article in Journalism Quarterly, "Cloze procedure: a new tool for measuring readability." Taylor deleted every nth word from a passage and measured how many words readers could restore. Texts where readers restored more words were judged easier to read. He took the name from closure, the Gestalt idea that we instinctively complete incomplete patterns.

Language testers soon adopted cloze passages as measures of overall proficiency. Variants include the rational (selective) cloze, where the test writer chooses which words to delete, the multiple-choice cloze, and the C-test, where the second half of every second word is removed.

Cloze deletion examples

Why cloze deletion helps vocabulary learning

• It forces retrieval. You must produce the word, not just recognize it. Retrieval practice strengthens memory more than re-reading (Roediger and Karpicke 2006). See active recall.
• It teaches use, not just meaning. Filling the gap requires the right part of speech, form and collocation. Knowing that reach goes with compromise is exactly the kind of knowledge single-word cards miss.
• It trains context use. Working out what fits sharpens your use of context clues while reading.
• It pairs with sentence mining. A sentence collected from your own reading becomes a cloze card by blanking the target word. See sentence mining.

How to make good cloze cards

1. Use real, short sentences. One clause or two is ideal. Long passages invite memorizing the whole thing.
2. Delete one target per card. Several blanks in one sentence make cards slow and confusing. In Anki, use separate deletions (c1, c2) if you want more than one card from a sentence.
3. Make the answer unambiguous. If several words fit, add a hint: a definition, the first letter or the part of speech. "She gave a ______ (very detailed, careful) account."
4. Keep a definition on the back. The goal is to learn the meaning as well as the form.
5. Review with spacing. Put the cards into a spaced repetition schedule so each word is retrieved several times over weeks.

The free cloze deletion generator turns a list of sentences and target words into blanks you can study or import into a flashcard app.

Limitations

Cloze cards only work if you already understand the rest of the sentence, so they suit learners past the beginner stage. Poorly chosen sentences with several possible answers cause frustration and "wrong" answers that are actually fine. As a test, fixed-ratio cloze mostly measures general reading and grammar ability; it is not a precise measure of vocabulary size. For that, use a dedicated vocabulary size test.

Sources: Taylor, W.L. (1953) Cloze procedure: a new tool for measuring readability, Journalism Quarterly; Klein-Braley, C. & Raatz, U. (1984) A survey of research on the C-Test, Language Testing; Roediger, H.L. & Karpicke, J.D. (2006) Test-enhanced learning, Psychological Science.