A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree " Licence en Langue et Littérature Anglaises

This work sought to evaluate the way of teaching the listening skill in English language centers and proposed some practical solutions to problems observed during the investigation. The motivation to conduct this study was partly based on my personal problems to understand the spoken language and the growing number of Burundians who are learning the English language mainly because Burundi is part of different organizations which use the English language as the means of communication.

In this study it was found out that it is very rare to see learners practise listening activities after class. This situation presents problems to learners. Additional home practices in listening are important to help the learners to create an environment of English after class. The audio-visual materials combined with other strategies, help the learners to make progress in learning the skill and make the task of teaching easy. As a further finding, ti was observed that the listening skill is neglected and, thus, presents some lapses in terms of the methodology used in teaching.

Recommendations to different stakeholders, who are involved in the listening skill teaching and learning, are made to facilitate the attainment of the goal for each goup concerned by the issue.