Phonetic Errors in Learning French as a Foreign Language: Consonant Clusters [pʀ] and [tʀ]

Consonant clusters that are composed of / R / and other consonants are among the phonetic properties of the French language. Although in the L1 of Persian language learners the syllabic structure of CC is at the end of a Word (but not at the beginning), the correct pronunciation of consonant clusters has always been a difficult task for beginner level learners and even sometimes for higher level learners. Using acoustic phonetics, this study investigated the physical structure of the two consonant clusters of [pR] and [tR] in the French language. A hypothesis could be made that Iranian FFL learners, especially at elementary levels, have a problem in reproducing consonant clusters at the beginning of the target French Words rather than at the end of these Words. To evaluate this hypothesis, phonetic productions of six first-year students at the University of Isfahan majoring in French language and literature were examined in terms of the first, second and third formants, as well as the energy level. Results demonstrated that the error rate of the learners in the re-production of consonant clusters [pR] and [tR] at the beginning and at the end of a Word has a significant relationship with the level of the marked consonant. Besides, the marked consonant clusters at the beginning and the end of target Words cause a phonetic error.