The production of English consonant clusters by L2 speakers, whose native languages do not have a complex syllable structure, is often reported to be challenging. Unlike most varieties of Arabic, Tunisian Arabic (TA) disposes of a flexible syllable structure that allows two consonant clusters in different positions in the word. The present study explores the production of English consonant clusters by L2 speakers of English whose native language is TA. It also seeks to examine the effect of presence of epenthesis on their perceived comprehensibility and degree of foreign accent. A conversation containing target words with different types of clusters and in different positions was read aloud and role played by English major Tunisian students. An auditory and acoustic analysis of the target items was performed to determine the presence or absence of epenthetic vowels used to break the cluster, and results revealed that these English learners used epenthesis with three consonant clusters only. Native speakers of English rated their comprehensibility and degree of foreign accent. Results showed that while the use of epenthesis in target words did not harm the comprehensibility of these learners, it affected their degree of foreign accent highly. The significance of the results is discussed in relation to second language phonological acquisition theories (Eckman, 1977; Mackon & Freguson, 1987; Major, 1987) and pronunciation learning and teaching research.

中文翻译：

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突尼斯英语学习者在英语辅音簇生成中的经验

通常，由母语为L2的母语不具有复杂音节结构的L2说话者制作英语辅音簇的过程非常困难。与大多数阿拉伯语品种不同，突尼斯阿拉伯语（TA）采用灵活的音节结构，该结构允许单词中不同位置的两个辅音簇。本研究探讨母语为TA的英语第二级说话者对英语辅音簇的产生。它还试图检验存在上肢的感觉对他们感知的可理解性和外来口音程度的影响。突尼斯大学英语专业的学生大声朗读了对话，对话中包含目标词的类型和类别不同，目标词的位置不同。对目标项目进行了听觉和听觉分析，以确定是否存在破坏簇的元音元音，结果表明，这些英语学习者仅使用具有三个辅音簇的元音。以英语为母语的人对他们的理解力和外国口音等级进行了评分。结果表明，尽管在目标词中使用上义词并不会损害这些学习者的理解力，但会极大地影响他们的外来口音程度。关于第二语言语音学习得理论（Eckman，1977； Mackon＆Freguson，1987； Major，1987）以及语音学习和教学研究，讨论了结果的重要性。结果表明，这些英语学习者仅使用带有三个辅音簇的附体。以英语为母语的人对他们的理解力和外国口音等级进行了评分。结果表明，尽管在目标词中使用上义词并不会损害这些学习者的理解力，但会极大地影响他们的外来口音程度。关于第二语言语音学习得理论（Eckman，1977； Mackon＆Freguson，1987； Major，1987）以及语音学习和教学研究，讨论了结果的重要性。结果表明，这些英语学习者仅使用带有三个辅音簇的附体。以英语为母语的人对他们的理解力和外国口音等级进行了评分。结果表明，尽管在目标词中使用上义词并不会损害这些学习者的理解力，但会极大地影响他们的外来口音程度。关于第二语言语音学习得理论（Eckman，1977； Mackon＆Freguson，1987； Major，1987）以及语音学习和教学研究，讨论了结果的重要性。