Well a good initiative would be discussing an agreed upon template. As I mentioned earlier I'd be interested in a cloze delete deck, but I'm afraid that I'll just end up memorizing the sentence and the associated cloze, so I'm not sure what the best method would be.
As an example, take the 「。。。ようにも。。。ない。。。」 construct (
http://jgram.org/pages/viewOne.php?tagE=younimonai), and an example sentence:
頭が痛くて、起きようにも起きられなかった。
I have a terrible headache, and I cannot get up even though I want to
What would be the best way to test this grammar with cloze delete? cloze the whole verb, part of it, only the conjugation? etc Some options would be:
頭が痛くて、起き__にも起きられなかった。
頭が痛くて、起き____起きられなかった。
頭が痛くて、起き__起き__。
頭が痛くて、__ようにも___なかった。
頭が痛くて、起__起__。
I think each of these would have some utility in making the reader think actively about what proper choices could be made.
But, to be honest, I think a lot can be learned from looking at example questions. On N2 the only difficulty came when the multiple choice options had all answers identical save one particle in each option, or two very similar answer choices like fill in the blank with "として" or "としては" and at that instant you're taking the test and think "oh s**t, what is the true difference between the usage of those grammar constructs?" and that's what understanding that problem will demonstrate.
SOOOOO, I'd like to see cards that are more similar to the test problems themselves. Either multiple answer choice and you have to quickly identify _why_ 3 of the 4 options are wrong, and really understand the essence of that selection.
My ideal setup (infinite time assumption):
1) one key example sentence for each grammar point that is cloze-deleted on key grammar point (maybe two sentences if it's one of the more varied grammar points)
2) a collected set of test-like cards (multiple choice answer, sentence arrangement)
Regarding point 2, in the ideal case with the drill books, KM, and the other popular options we could easily get for each grammar point 3 or 4 question cards. That means we'd be prompted with 4 unique sentences that test any N1 grammar point, forcing the student to consider said grammar point against what are the most likely options that would trip one up.
That's more than two cents worth of rambling... Realistically, I'll probably just keep reading books and listening to podcast and not do anything of this, but if this spurs any thoughts or excitement I might be game.