(b) Listening for comprehension requires some kind of a response to each utterance to enable the learner to ascertain the certainty of his comprehension: physical response, latentimage worksheets or any variety of imaginative substitutes for oral response are desirable in the initial stages of language learning.

(c) Vehicles for student response should be of the widest possible variety: i. e., a heavy emphasis on physical response in the first few weeks should taper off but continue over the entire first year of instruction; likewise, latent image drills in the language lab are best exploited in the first half year of language learning, but should be substantially reduced in frequency as the year goes on.

(d) When task overload is minimised, a much higher degree of student motivation is manifested in the form of reduced attrition (per cent attrition was halved from that of previous years) and by extended student perseverance (substantially better preparation and attendance at class).

(e) A continuing focus on listening for comprehension of newly introduced materials is readily transferred to other language skills, especially speaking.

(f) Lacking a required or assigned task, many students will not exploit learning resources on their own volition, i. e., any programmed aspect of language instruction requires frequent monitoring and accountability of the learner's progress.

In the world of the future, modern technology will make the written form of language less and less important, and the sound form of language more and more important. Modern technologies will create an ever increasing need for people of all nations to have a receptive or listening comprehension capability in at least one other language. English is still the world's most influential language and appears to remain so for many more years. Recent evidence also indicates that the learning of listening comprehension also has the greatest transfer potential to the other language skills. In light of the changing world created by the new technologies, it appears that the Japanese Educational System should consider changing their approach to the teaching of English in the very near future.

As result of the evidence just presented, and through a recognition of the need for change in the teaching of English in Japan, I hope that the English departments of Japanese Universities as well as the high school system within Japan will seriously consider working together toward a greater emphasis on listening comprehension as a focal skill, followed by reading as a secondary skill. It is hoped that the Japanese Educational System can free itself of the bonds of the grammar-translation techniques which now prevent many of its students from learning a practical form of English, and yet it is also hoped that it does not fall into the same trap that the American school system fell into when it shifted from the grammar-translation method to the audio-lingual approach. When a language is taught as a foreign language rather than as a second language²³there is less immediate need for the encoding or retrieval skills such as speaking and writing. These can come later, once there is a firm foundation in the decoding or recognition skills of listening and reading. And as long as listening is considered a focal skill, the transfer to the other skills is generally rapid. The speaking of English in a listening class can always be allowed, it is only where the speaking of English is forced that task overload and anxiety are created.

The shift from the present conditions will not just take place automatically however, and any change of this magnitude will require a minimum of five years from its commencement until it will have any real effect on students. It is therefore with a sense of urgency, yet a sense of humility that I make the following suggestions and recommendations.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Include a Listening Comprehension Test in the University Entrance Examination.

2. Use English as the language of instruction wherever and whenever possible.