A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Award of the degree "Licence en langue et littérature Anglaises"

Résumé,

The current study aims at finding out different types of grammatical errors that 1st Arts form pupils of secondary school make in their English speaking. Finding causes of those errors and teaching strategies to reduce them is also the subject of this study. Starting from the assumption that the French language may influence Burundian English learners to commit some errors in speaking, it is understood that if English teachers and learners consider those causes and try to adopt new teaching/learning methods, the grammatical error occurrence may be reduced.

For that purpose, teachers and learners of the selected schools of Bujumbura city have been given questionnaires. Besides, the same pupils were asked to make presentations in order to confirm or disconfirm the results from questionnaires. As a result, a number of different grammatical errors were found in their English presentations. These were limited to nine major errors : verb tense and form, subject/verb agreement, prepositions, word order, plural form, articles, passive voice, auxiliaries and double negation. After analysing the errors, it has been found out that the grammatical errors students make are classified into two main types : interlingual and intralingual.

Some of those errors are due French interference, and a lack of English vocabulary and grammar knowledge. Then, some teaching and learning strategies have been suggested to remedy to those problems.
For example, teachers should create opportunities and many activities that motivate students to speak.

Also, students should be aware of their responsibility in their language learning and avoid negative attitudes. It has been recommended to the government to equip secondary schools with teaching and learning materials, so as to allow both teachers and learners to improve their knowledge especially in English speaking.