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Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness (PA) is considered an essential skill and an important step towards literacy in the childrens early development stages. First of all, a research by Milankov et al. (2021) showed that there was a direct correlation between the kids ability to read and the level of PA. Students having better PA were predicted to master reading skills significantly faster than those with lower levels of awareness. Furthermore, the PA helps children to not only read print words but also to comprehend them better by shifting the focus from how to read each individual word to the meaning behind them (Armbruster, 2010). Finally, PA is believed to be closely connected to the vocabulary development and may significantly assist a multilingual child in learning phonemics and phonology of other languages (Cassano and Rohde, 2021). This paper will present a short glossary with key terms related to PA as well as a number of useful PA activities.
Glossary
Phoneme addition the strategy for pronouncing the rest of the word when one or more phonemes are added to it. E.g. using the process of phoneme addition the word tick (/tik/) can be pronounced as the word stick (/stick/) when the phoneme /s/ is added.
Phonemic awareness the ability to recognise, differentiate and use phonemes. E. g. PA allows a child to read the print words with the use of phonemes.
Phoneme blending the strategy for pronouncing a combination of sounds or phonemes as words. E.g. phoneme blending allows a child to recognise that phonemes /k/, /æ/ and /t/ put together can be pronounced as the word cat.
Phoneme elimination the strategy for pronouncing the rest of the word when one or more phonemes are eliminated from it. E.g. using the process of phoneme elimination the word sand (/sænd/) can be pronounced as the word and (/ænd/) when the phoneme /s/ is deleted.
Phoneme identification the strategy for identifying identical sounds or phonemes in different words. E.g. phoneme identification allows a child to recognise that the words cat (/kæt/) and hat (/hæt/) share the phoneme /æ/.
Phoneme isolation the strategy for identifying individual phonemes and their location in a given word. E.g. phoneme isolation allows a child to recognise that the phoneme /k/ is at the start of the word cat.
Phoneme segmentation the strategy for decomposing any given words into phonemes or a combination of sounds. E.g. the word cat can be segmented into three phonemes /k/, /æ/ and /t/.
Phoneme substitution the strategy for correctly reading a word when one or more phonemes in the word are changed. E.g. using the process of phoneme substitution the word cat (/kæt/) can be read as a hat (/hæt/) when the phoneme /k/ is changed for /h/.
Phoneme a unit corresponding to the sound that a letter or a combination of letters produce in any given word. E.g. the sound that the letter t and h produce are represented by phoneme /t/ in the word thyme and by phoneme /ð/ in the word brother.
Phonemics the study of phonemes and phonetic systems of a given language. E.g. this paper covers the importance of phonemics for childrens literacy and reading skills.
Phonetic awareness activities
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Exposure to rhyming texts and word plays can be beneficial to the childs vocabulary, oral language and recognising words sound structure recognition (Cassano and Rohde, 2021)
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Limitation of syllable-level instructions can be beneficial for preschoolers as they would not confuse syllables and phonemes. In case the child is having troubles with particular phonemes, more accessible syllable units can be introduced (Cassano and Rohde, 2021)
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Phonemes associated with particular letters and vice versa can improve the childs understanding the mechanisms behind reading and spelling (Cassano and Rohde, 2021)
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Listening to and perception of music and individual pitches can benefit the childs phoneme segmentation and isolation abilities (Skubic et al., 2021)
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Limiting PA exercises to only one or two types of strategies can help preschoolers not to get confused when working on phonemes manipulation (Armbruster, 2010)
References
Armbruster, B. B. (2010). Put reading first. The research building blocks for teaching children to read: Kindergarten through grade 3 (3rd ed.). Diane Publishing Company.
Cassano, C. M. and Rohde, L. E. (2021). Phonological awareness in early childhood literacy development. International Literacy Association, Web.
Includes a helpful guide for parents and teachers on phonological awareness and literacy development.
Milankov, V., Golubovi, S., Krsti, Y. and Golubovi, S. (2021). Phonological awareness as the foundation of reading acquisition in students reading in transparent orthography. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(10), Web.
Thorough academic research on the connection between the levels phonological awareness and primary school pupils reading skills.
Skubic, D., Gaberc, B. and Jerman, J. (2021). Supportive development of phonological awareness through musical activities according to Edgar Willems. SAGE Open, Web.
Insightful experimental research on the importance of musical activities for phonological development.
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