A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree " Licencié en Pédagogie Appliquée,Agrégé de l' Enseignement Secondaire en Anglais"

English vowels have been identified by the researcher as one of the important factors which play a great role in the effective pronunciation of English and which consequently cause a lot of problems to those whose mother tongue is not English Many mistakes in the pronunciation of English vowels where identified when the researcher was listening to B.B.C (British Broadcasting Corporation) especially when a speaker from an African country was being interviewed. It was very easy to distinguish between the native speakers and non native speakers from African countries because they do no pronounce English in the same way. These differences in pronunciation have led the researcher to ask himself whether African languages may have an effect on the pronunciation of English.

The present study then, aims to investigate the impact of Kirundi language on the pronunciation of English and great emphasis was put on vowels. A total number of fifty-four (54) subjects of First Form Arts from six secondary schools of Gitega township namely the lycée Notre Dame de la Sagesse, Lycée Musinzira, Lycée Sainte Thèrése, Lycée Régina Pacis Lycée Gitega and the Lycée Technique Urban de Gitega and their teachers were given questionnaires to answer and a pronunciation test ( a sequence of words to read) was designed for students for the purpose of identifying the sources of the pronunciaton errors in Burundians learners of English. The data from questionnaires, students' pronunciation test and classroom observation were collected, analyzed and presented in order to find answers to the research questions formulated in the first chapter of the work and then appropriate recommendations were drawn. After a deep analysis of the data from teachers'and students' answers to the questionnaires and te students' pronunciation test, it was discovered that Kirundi language has an effect on the pronunciation of English.