Generalization following the remediation of early- and later-developing consonant clusters

Abstract

Three pairs of matched subjects, ages 4:4 to 6:3 (yrs:mos), who consistently misarticulated word-initial consonant clusters were taught to produce either earlier-developing (stop + liquid) clusters or later-developing (fricative + liquid) clusters. Sixty untrained probe items were administered imitatively during baseline and periodically throughout treatment to assess articulation change over time. Five of the six subjects performed with essentially equal accuracy on both cluster categories during the final probe administration regardless of the nature of their treatment. Additional analysis revealed the liquid segment [( r] or [l]) as the apparently decisive factor in four subjects' learning patterns.