A thesis submitted in parial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree " Licence en Langue et Littérature Anglaises.

Résumé,

This work intends to make an investigation on how Kirundi songs are understood in order to produce effects on the society. The study was carried out by collecting data through the questionnaire distributed to the singers and the interview to the listeners of Kirundi songs. As it is shown in the first chapter, precisely in the Statement of the Problem, the Research Questions and in the Hyotheses, this study is centered on the interpretation of Kirundi songs and their impacts.

The analysis of the data collected, as we can see it in the fourth chapter, reveals that there are some singers as well as listeners who are not aware of the usefulness of Kirundi songs. Due to various reasons, there is also a misinterpretation of songs, in some cases, which blocks their intended effects on the listeners. However, the results from the analysis and the interpretation of the data collected showed that, in general, Kirundi songs are intended to advise and to teach. In this perspective, the accurate effects are sometimes produced on some Burundians but not on a whole Burundian population.

At the end, suggestions addressed to singers and listeners are made.