A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree "Licence en Langue et Littérature Anglaises".

RESUME

The study explores Burundian students' problems in mastering changes in the pronunciation of English vowel sounds. It begins with a brief description of the place of English in the world in general, in Africa, and in Burundi in particular. It focuses on the spoken form of the language, speech. The aspect of speech which prevails a lot in the study is the pronunciation of English vowel sounds. Such vowels are given detailled description and classification, in addition to different theories related to vowels of English as stress, weak forms and changes in the pronunciation of English vowels.sounds.

To attain these objectives, the questionnaire and an interview through a reading test were used to collect the data. The analysis of the results from the research area proved that Burundian English learners had problems of mastering changes in the pronunciation of English vowel sounds. Most of the problems discovered were the following : the problems related to stress in English, the problem of overgeneralization, the problem of insufficient pronunciation books, thus little access to information on the pronunciation of English vowels, and lastly the non-practice of the speaking and listening skills for some students.

After having identified such problems, the study has put ahead some proposed solutions to such problems. It ends with section on recommendations to all who are involved in the process of English language learning in Burundi : Burundian English learners, the ministry in charge of education and the government in general.