A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Award of the degree " Licence en Langue et Littérature Anglaises.

RESUME,

This study aims at identifying the causes of students' poor oral perfomance in English.Our research was conducted on the hypotheses that factors such as teachers' arttitude and learners' attitude,thz environment,the methods,socioeconomic background of the pupils' parents' etc,lead to poor oral fluency.
So,four schools were selected to participate into the survey.4 teachers of English and 44 students of third and second form Arts section were randmly chosen as sample.The investigator found out that the hypotheses formulated match very well with the findings:lack of oral teaching materials and oral actvities in schools are one side of factors that lead to non-proficiency in English.On the other hand,it was also of the factors thet lead to non-proficiency in English.On the other hand ,it was also proven true thatt socioeconomic background of the students'parents,insufficient time and infavorable environment in Burundi contribute towards poor oral performance.This is affirmed by the tree teachers who replied that their students dont't use English outside the class.The teaching of oral English in Gisuru schools and hindered by so many factors that need an immediate action to redress the situation.Otherwise students' oral proficiency will never be attained.Then ,the government via the Ministry of Education should reorganize the Education system in Burundi in such a way that they give importance to oral skill in schools.