A Thesis Submetted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of " Licencié en Pedagogie Appliquée , Agrégé de lenseignement Secondaire en Anglais

Résumé,

In this study, I focused on strategies to overcome psychological barriers in learning the speaking skill in English at Secondary school level in general and in the Third Form in particular. In Burundian Secondary schools, where English is taught, most pupils have problems to speak the language ; they cannot express themselves even though they have interesting ideas.

The main objective of this study was to see how both teachers and pupils of Third Form students could overcome those psychological barriers in English. The researcher used a questionnaire and classroom observation as research instruments TO collect the data.
The data were collected, processed, analyzed and interpreted quantitatively and qualitatively. After the analysis of the collected data, the research found the following : the research findings show that all hypotheses are verified and proven right.

Concerning living conditions, the research has proved that they play a major role in learning the speaking skill in English. For the second hypothesis, the research questions proved that the authorities in charge of education do not supply enough qualified teachers and updated teaching materials. Concerning the third hypothesis, the results proved that Third Form students' teachers have to know each type of difficulties and bring up adequate strategies to overcome it.

A number of recommendations likely to bring about positive results were made to teachers, students, the curriculum designers, the future researchers and teacher training institutions of English in Burundi.