DOI: https://doi.org/10.26565/2074-8922-2026-86-15 Relevance of the problem. The conditions of martial law in Ukraine have caused profound transformations in national education in general and higher education in particular. Legislative changes have allowed the education system to adapt to the new realities of martial law: the digitalization of education, accelerated by global crises and war, has revealed the need to adapt to distance learning methods, which have changed the structure of communications, assessment mechanisms and the nature of interaction between participants in the educational process. The current stage of development of higher education in Ukraine is characterized by the reorientation of the educational process from the reproductive acquisition of knowledge to the formation of competencies necessary for future professional activity. A special role in this process is played by the language training of students, in particular within the course "Ukrainian Language (for Professional Purposes)", providing the formation of professional oral and written speech skills. In this regard, the problem of selecting effective teaching and assessment methods that would combine control, self-control and the development of speech skills is becoming more relevant. One of such methods is cloze testing, which allows diagnosing the level of language competence of students and at the same time promoting its development. Purpose of the study. The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the didactic potential of cloze tests in the process of teaching the course "Ukrainian Language (for Professional Purposes)" in higher education institutions. The essence of cloze testing as a formative assessment tool is revealed, its place in the system of modern methods of language training of future specialists is outlined. A classification of cloze tests is proposed, methodological conditions for their effective application are determined, examples of professionally oriented tasks are given. Research methods. In preparing the article, the method of analysis of psychological, pedagogical and methodological literature was used, devoted to the issues of goals, organization, methods, techniques and technologies of teaching and control of the level of learning at all levels of language learning. To achieve the goal and solve the tasks set, a complex of empirical and general scientific methods was also used: observation, induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis, analogy, comparison, generalization, terminological, functional, systemic, cognitive analysis, as well as the method of linguodidactic text analysis. Research results. The article carries out a comprehensive analysis of the didactic potential of cloze tests in the process of teaching the course "Ukrainian Language (for Professional Purposes)" in higher education institutions: the essence of cloze testing as a formative assessment tool is revealed, its place in the system of modern methods of language training of future specialists is outlined, a classification of cloze tests is proposed, methodological conditions for their effective application are determined, examples of tasks of a professionally oriented direction are given. Grammatical cloze tests in the course "Ukrainian Language (for Professional Purposes)" perform formative, diagnostic and correctional functions, ensuring the assimilation of normative grammatical models in professional speech and contributing to the improvement of the language culture of future specialists. Stylistic cloze tests in the course "Ukrainian Language (Professional Orientation)" perform formative and corrective functions, contribute to the awareness of the norms of functional styles and prepare students for normative professional communication in academic and business environments. Lexical cloze tests perform the function of a tool for the formation and control of lexical competence, ensuring the assimilation of terminological and general scientific vocabulary in the context of professional speech and contributing to the development of conscious, rather than reproductive, word mastery. Contextual-semantic cloze tests in the course "Ukrainian Language (Professional Orientation)" perform integrative and diagnostic functions, ensuring the formation of skills for the holistic understanding of professional texts and the development of students' academic and professional communicative competence. Conclusions. It has been proven that the main advantages of cloze tests include objectivity, versatility, and the ability to adapt to different specialties and forms of learning. At the same time, the effectiveness of this method depends on the quality of the selection of texts and the clear formulation of tasks. It can be concluded that the cloze test replaces a whole series of narrowly focused tasks, saving time and effort. The advantages of cloze tests over traditional tests are their ability to comprehensively test language competence, and not just reproduce isolated knowledge. The main advantages include the following: cloze tests are based on a holistic text, therefore they test the understanding of language units in context, while traditional tests are often focused on individual rules or facts; one cloze test simultaneously activates lexical, grammatical, syntactic, and stylistic competence, unlike traditional tests, which usually measure them separately; unlike multiple-choice tests, cloze tests significantly reduce the randomness factor, since the correct answer must correspond to several parameters at the same time (content, form, style); the results of cloze tests make it possible to identify the depth of understanding of the text, the level of formation of professionally oriented speech and typical language difficulties of students; cloze tests are effective not only as a control, but also as a teaching tool, since they promote reflection, self-correction and the development of language competence. Thus, cloze tests, unlike traditional test forms, provide a contextually conditioned, integrated and diagnostically significant assessment of language competence, which increases their validity in the process of professionally oriented language learning.