Which statement about phonemic awareness is true?

Which statement about phonemic awareness is true?

• A. It involves manipulating individual sounds in words.
• B. It requires letter knowledge.
• C. It only applies to reading.
• D. It does not develop in early grades.

Answer: (A)

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds in spoken words. This includes blending sounds to make a word, segmenting a word into its separate sounds, or changing sounds to form new words. That focus on manipulating sounds in speech is why the statement describing this activity is the true one. It doesn’t require letters; letter knowledge belongs to phonics and reading, not to phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is about listening and spoken language, not about reading alone, and it begins to develop in the preschool and kindergarten years.

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds in spoken words. This includes blending sounds to make a word, segmenting a word into its separate sounds, or changing sounds to form new words. That focus on manipulating sounds in speech is why the statement describing this activity is the true one. It doesn’t require letters; letter knowledge belongs to phonics and reading, not to phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is about listening and spoken language, not about reading alone, and it begins to develop in the preschool and kindergarten years.