Consonant cluster production by pediatric users of cochlear implants

Production of 19 word-initial two-segment consonant clusters was examined in 12 children who have used cochlear implants for at least 5 years, including 6 children who used oral communication (OC) and 6 who used Total Communication (TC). Results showed that 48% of the clusters were correctly produced by the children (75% correct for oral communication users and 21% correct for Total Communication users). Incorrect productions were limited to realizations with one or two segments, null onsets not being produced by any of the children. One-segment realizations exhibiting simple reduction generally retained the less sonorous element of the target cluster, with the exception that some Total Communication users retained the more sonorous element if the less sonorous segment was a velar stop. Two-segment realizations, in which one or both segments could be incorrect, generally reflected the singleton realization patterns of the constituent elements. Approximately 7% of target clusters were realized with epenthetic vowels, indicating awareness of multiple segments but lack of ability to implement the phonotactic requirements of a cluster. These results indicate that children with cochlear implants use similar strategies to children with normal hearing in their realization of word-initial consonant clusters.