Phonemic Awareness Is Important In Reading
by Karla Benson
October 06, 2008
Phonemic Awareness Is Important In the Reading Process Phonological awareness is recognizing and understanding the way words in language can be used or divided up. For example, language can be a sentence and then broken down into words. Words can be divided into syllables, jacket /jack/ /et/, and individual groups of letters can be divided to make a new sound. Such as, this /th/ /i/ /s/. The letters (th) will make a new sound when used together. To begin this process for beginning readers, instruction is centered on initial rhyming and rhyming songs. This approach helps introduce the blending of letters to create syllables and then into words. Word families are often used to reinforce this concept. For instance, the letters /eep/ could help teach the initial sounds /b/ eep, /d/ eep, /j/ eep. Blends may be added to show different sounds, such as, /sh/ eep or /cr/ eep. It is very important that children grasp the awareness that different letters put together create many different sounds. This process allows children to read and build words. Research has shown a strong relationship between phoneme awareness and reading success. Children need to feel comfortable with phonemes. As children are introduced to and begin to recognize different phonemes, they get used to identifying and using them in words. Practice, practice, and more practice helps students to see phonemes and understand how to use them. It is very important for children to begin to recognize and learn to manipulate phonemes to create syllables and new words. When given the chance to practice and use these phonemes, reading success begins to occur.
