The Cloze Technique as A Pedagogical Tool for the Training of Translators and Interpreters

Sylvie Lambert
University of Ottawa

Abstract

This article focuses on the versatility of the cloze technique, as a tool not only for measuring second-language proficiency, but also for selecting and training both translators (written cloze) and interpreters (aural cloze). When presented auditorily, the cloze test discriminates pass and fail interpreter students, given the external pacing and speed stress experienced by simultaneous interpreters in real life. The article offers several ways to administer the cloze technique as well as examples of such doctored material.

Table of contents

The cloze procedure is a method of test construction which consists in deleting words from prose passages, and asking subjects to fill in the blanks. The term "cloze" comes from the psychological concept of closure which is the [ p. 224 ]perception of apparent wholeness of visual or auditory inputs that are actually incomplete. Through closure, the missing parts are ignored or compensated for by projections based on both internal clues and past experience with similar phenomena.

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