The acquisition of English consonants by Maltese children

Abstract

The acquisition of consonants by children has been much more extensively studied than vowels. This study focused on the pronunciation of consonants by twelve Maltese children. The main aim of this study, apart from analysing the pronunciation of consonants per se, was to find out what factors determine the acquisition of consonants. The children were of both genders, of different age groups and of a different language. This research aimed at answering questions such as: Is there any difference between the younger and the older children? Did the children who are native speakers of Maltese pronounce the English consonants differently from those who were native speakers of English? Did the girls' pronunciation differ from that of boys? The researcher conducted fieldwork by first recording the participants' pronunciations and then analysing the recordings of these pronunciations. The general findings proved the researcher's initial hypothesis: all the non-linguistic variables which were analysed, (even if some more than others), do seem to influence consonant acquisition in one way or another.