The Use of Cloze Test to Determine The Proficiency Level of ESL Students

A well-constructed language test will yield useful information for admission, student placement, course evaluation and other concerns in language teaching, depending on the test objectives. This paper describes the development of a viable test instrument which can be used to determine the English language proficiency level of students enrolled in a Malaysian private university. Students’ responses to the multiple-choice cloze tests are examined to ascertain the impact of gender, nationality and English language qualifications on the test scores. The findings suggest that the tailored cloze tests are quite reliable, showing a fairly strong relationship between the students’ EPT scores and their English language qualifications; and for some of them, their achievement test scores. Although this study is a preliminary exploration into a subject that needs further probing, the test construction procedures may serve as a useful alternative to institutions which need a language proficiency test that is easy to administer and quick to grade.