The aim of this paper is to investigate the correlations between subjective evaluations (i.e., learners' self-evaluations) and objective evaluations (i.e., actual test results) in listening comprehension.The author assumed that if we could find some correlations between subjective evaluations (i.e., learners' simultaneous self-evaluations of their comprehension as determined on a scale of 0-10, 10 representing total comprehension) and their objective evaluations, the data would enable us to discern better methods for use in teaching English. The results obtained from this investigation are as follows: 1) learners in general underestimate their actual test results, and the discrepancy for those who achieved high test scores was especially large, and yet, 2) there were high correlations between learners' self-evaluations and their actual test results. Keeping the goal of providing positive reinforcement in mind, the conclusions of the research may be stated as follows: 1) because learners are unable to make accurate self-evaluations of their comprehension, it would appear that immediate feedback (i.e., the answers) would enhance the learners' progress, and 2) therefore, in administering mass instruction, teaching machines, which can provide inimediate feedback, would be of great value in promoting learners' progress.

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Discrimination drill which gives students practice in discriminating phonetic contrasts in such a pair as: He gave his vote to the woman. He gave his boat to the woman, now appears frequently in most LL texts. This type of drill is based on the theory of structural linguistics and might be an indispensable step toward acquisition of linguistic competence, but still the method of drill presentation presents problems. The present writer concerns himself with (1) discrimination ability among native speakers (2) cause of failure in sound discrimination among native speakers (3) the educational significance of sound discrimination drills in learning language. To study the above, a series of experiments with both native speakers and Japanese students have been made. As an interim report we can conclude the following: (1) native speakers cannot distinguish all phonemic pairs with equal ease, (2) the recording quality of the discrimination drills markedly affects perception and sound distinction, (3) sound discrimination drills have some significance, but comprehension practice is as important, or sometimes more important, so we should make a deliberate plan as to how much and when students practice phonetic contrast drills.

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This paper is an illustrative report on a study about 'weak forms" which were investigated especially from the standpoint of learning and teaching in language laboratories. The investigation was mainly based on some analyses of the test results obtained in the course of carrying out LL classes to totally 97 university students for four academic years (1972-'75). The results were as follows: (1) there existed a significant correlation between the perception ability of "weak forms" and the comprehension ability (r = 0.889, N 69), (2) it was possible even for university students to learn "weak forms" effectively by the method of dictation practice in a language laboratory for about 20 mins. every week during one semester, and (3) the learning process could be eventually observed by an error analysis, and the assumed process may be applied to the future systematic teaching and training program. Finally we also suggest a tentative way of systematizing a teaching program in the LL by making use of the computer.

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