detail, but also in their prosody (i.e. rhythm, tempo, loudness, stress, voice
quality and intonation), their phonotactic distribution (i.e. restrictions on
the permissible combinations of speech sounds and the way in which the
speech apparatus, such as the lips, tongue and jaw is used in a given lan-
guage). Our research programme has primarily focused on those phonetic/
phonological aspects and language pairs that have largely escaped attention
to date. As such we have conducted research on prosody, in particular differ-
ences in the use of intonation and pitch range across languages and how such
differences are realised and learned by bilingual speakers (Mennen et al.,
2012; Mennen et al., in press); articulatory settings, that is, cross- linguistic
differences in the way in which speakers of a language set up their articula-
tors, such as their tongue, their lip and their jaw, during speech and in the
preparation for speech (Mennen et al., 2010; Schaeffler et al., 2008; Scobbie
et al., 2011); influences of the L2 learning experience on the L1 sound system
(de Leeuw et al., 2010; de Leeuw et al., 2012; Mayr et al., 2012; Mennen, 2004;
for a discussion see also Chapter 2); and phonological acquisition in bilingual
children (Mayr et al., 2014). In this chapter, we will focus on phonological
acquisition by presenting a study on the acquisition of consonant clusters in
in Welsh-English bilingual children.
Consonant Cluster Acquisition in Welsh-English
Bilingual Children
Background to the study
Phonological acquisition in bilingual children
Children acquiring the phonological system of their native language face a
formidable task. This task becomes even more complex in the case of bilingual
children. According to Watson (1991: 27), four steps are involved: the child
must (1) learn to recognise distinct acoustic patterns in the two languages;
(2) deduce the set of oppositions which constitute the phonological structure
of the languages; (3) associate the acoustic patterns with the phonological
systems, and (4) master the correct language-specific articulatory routines.
Given the enormity of this task, it is not surprising that many studies
have found slower phonological acquisition in bilinguals than monolinguals,
a phenomenon termed delay or deceleration (Fabiano-Smith & Goldstein,
2010; Gildersleeve-Neumann et al., 2008). The Spanish-English bilingual chil-
dren in Fabiano-Smith and Goldstein (2010), for instance, were found to lag
behind age-matched monolinguals in either language with respect to conso-
nant production accuracy.
Other studies, however, have yielded the opposite effect, that is, faster
acquisition by bilinguals compared with monolinguals, a phenomenon
termed acceleration (Paradis & Genesee, 1996) or bilingual bootstrapping
4 Part 1: Bilingual Speech