Recoverability vs. Bisyllabicity: A Study of L2 Consonant Clusters

Deletion and epenthesis are the main recoverability strategies that second language (L2) learners use to simplify consonant clusters. Some researchers argued that advanced learners usually display a larger amount of epenthesis than non-advanced learners. However, referring to the concept of bisyllabicity, some argued that L2 learners usually prefer words of two syllables, meaning that while words of one syllable would be mostly epenthesized, other strategies would be used for words of two syllables. This paper investigated recoverability and bisyllabicity through a corpus study followed by an experimental study. In the corpus study, the data were from L2 English learners from different L1 backgrounds. Results showed that advanced learners used epenthesis more than deletion, but non-advanced learners used the same strategy as advanced learners, confirming only one part of the recoverability claim. Similarly, words of one syllable involved more epenthesis than deletion, as suggested by the bisyllabicity principle, but words of two syllables also showed more epenthesis than deletion. The experimental study tested these two claims on Arabic-speaking L2 learners of English. Participants were provided with one-, two-, and three-syllable words containing initial, medial, and final consonant clusters. The advanced learners used epenthesis slightly less than deletion, while non-advanced learners demonstrated a significantly higher tendency to employ epenthesis compared to deletion. The results therefore suggested that although recoverability and bisyllabicity principles could not ultimately predict what modification strategy L2 learners used, they were still capable of predicting some of the participants’ behavior.