A thesis submetted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree "Licence en Langue et Littérature Anglaises"

RESUME

In Burundi, English language is taught and learned as a foreign language. Even if English is taught at school, most of Burundian educated people remain unable to express thernselves in English or listen to news bulletins in English. When they are faced to work with English speakers, they have recourse to interpreters. All these problems are related to the lack of the oral fluency. In this work, the researcher sought to find out the deep roots of unability to use English in every day life.

Therefore, the researcher sought to answer the following research questions. Does pupils' attitude towards English have something in common with the environment in which they live ? Does the pupils' formal learning environment enhance their oral English fluency ? Does the pupils' informal learning environment help them to improve their oral English learning ? To what extend do the urban and rural areas differ as far as their influence on the oral English learning ? To answer these questions, the researcher selected three schools from three different provinces of rural area and three others from Bujumbura city. In so doing, the following methods have been used to carry out the research research questionnaires, observation and interview.

With this study, the researcher found that in both urban and rural areas, pupils have a good attitude towards English. However, in the formal learning environment, pupils lack the instructional materials for the oral English learning and the classrooms are generally uncomfortable. Concerning the informal learning environment, the findings show that pupils lack the Englsh speaking community to practise the oral English. In few words, the pupils' learning environments are not appropriate for the oral English learning.
Moreover, taking account into the problems encountered by pupils in the learning of the oral English, the study found no difference between the two environments, the urban and the rural areas. They both share the same problems stated above : inadequacy of formal learning environment, lack of the oral English teaching materials and unconfortable classrooms. For the informal learning environment, pupils do not get the opportunities to practice the oral English language because they lack the English speaking community.

To conclude, this work shows briefly that pupils have a good attitude towards. English However, besides the lack of instructional materials for the formal learning of the oral English, the schools also are constructed in the unconfortable place. Pupils also lack the English speaking community to practice thir English at home environment. Fortunately, in order to get the oral fluency, pupils should have appropriate materials to learn the oral English and get opportunities to practice the oral English at schools as at home.