This study tested a model of second language phonological acquisition that proposes a hierarchical relationship between language‐specific transfer processes and universal developmental processes in terms of chronology and style. The model claims that transfer processes decrease over time, while developmental processes increase and then decrease. The same patterns obtain as style becomes more formal. I tested the model by investigating initial and final consonant cluster production of four Brazilian learners of English. The speech sample included two styles‐reading a word list and reading a text. Two English‐speaking phoneticians transcribed the speech in detail and classified it into three categories: transfer substitutions, developmental substitutions, and native‐like productions. The results were mixed: the data supported claims of the model regarding chronology, but not the claims regarding style.