Phonemic Modification Strategies used by Pahari English as Second Language (ESL) Learners for Learning English Consonant Clusters

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The current study attempted to examine different modification strategies used by Pahari ESL (English as Second Language) learners.  Pahari ESL learners use different types of modification strategies to acquire consonant clusters that are not found in their native language. The data was collected by providing a list of 216 words which were various combinations of the place of articulation and manner of articulation. About 10 participants were selected from the district Bagh. The participants belonged to intermediate academic background. The learners were asked to pronounce those clusters three times. These recordings were analyzed by using Praat software. For acoustics analysis, three participants were selected from them. The current study showed that Pahari learners use deletion, lenition, and fortition as modification strategies to deal with the consonant clusters that are not found in their language. This study further indicated that learners used spirantization, approximentization, voicing, change in manner, stopping insertion of consonants, devoicing, and lengthening of vowels as well.