What is Phonemic Awareness and Why is it Important?

 

First things first: What is Phonemic Awareness? 

    In my literacy classes we have been discussing different types of language, language use, and other topics revolving around the subject since this fall semester started. While I was familiar with broad topics, like utilizing inclusive language in the classroom, this past week I learned about a new skill that I was taught, will have to teach, and was not even aware I had. Phonemic awareness, which is the understanding and manipulation of spoken words and syllables that language is made up of (Foundations of Literacy). A quick summary of the information I gathered from the text I read and engaged with online is that phonemic awareness is one’s ability to hear, identify, and manipulate sounds in order to form and understand different words. Additionally, the english alphabet only has 26 letters in it, but our language as a whole is made up of 44 sounds that are used to form all of the words in our vocabulary (Foundations of Literacy).

Putting the Puzzle Together: Why is Phonemic Awareness Important?

    Now that you, like me, have a better understanding of phonemic awareness I would like to touch on why this is such an important skill to teach and model within a classroom environment. The first reason, and arguably the most important, is that a students phonemic awareness is a very early predictor of the students literary success. If this is something a student struggles with in an early childhood classroom it needs to be addressed, because it is vital that children have this skill to be successful in school. You may be saying to yourself, “Okay, I understand that it is an early predictor of academic success, but why?”, and I am going to do my best to answer this question. Phonemic awareness, in short, is a child’s ability to recognize different sounds and form words from them. In order for a child to understand the words they read, to know what they mean, they need to be able to actually know what the word is. Imagine for a moment trying to read a book when all of a sudden you encounter a word you do not know and you lack the ability to sound it out. How do you figure out what that word means when you cannot even recognize the way it is said or used? That is why phonemic awareness is important, especially to young children. It is how they learn new words, it is how they start putting together the puzzle pieces of language in their minds, and it is a skill they absolutely must have to succeed academically, cognitively, and socially.

Applying and Practicing Phonemic Awareness: How Can Teacher's (or Parent's) Find Way's to Incorporate This Into Their Daily Lives?

    As mentioned in the paragraphs above phonemic awareness is a necessary skill for young children to be successful in and out of the classroom, but this is a skill that has to be taught. Although humans are born with the ability to make sounds, and we learn language over time, just knowing a language does not equate to having phonemic awareness. A child may know how to say a word, but that does not mean they recognize the individual sounds and syllables that it encompasses. If they do not recognize the individual sounds they cannot start putting the ‘puzzle’ together in their minds, and since young students are so eager to learn it is important that we introduce, and re-introduce, them to this concept on a day to day basis. A few ways to do this within an early childhood classroom are alphabet charts and sound charts, so from day one they have access to the pieces of the puzzle even though they do not understand their meaning yet. Utilizing a sound chart is especially helpful because it gives them a visual representation of how new and old words can be formed using the 44 sounds. Another way to incorporate this into your classroom is by doing syllable/sound related activities, an example of this would be breaking down a few words together as a class, and then seeing what new words you can form once they are broken down into their sounds alone. Lastly, you can model this skill to students by sounding out words during read aloud, actively showing your students how new words are formed (visually and orally), and maintaining all these activities listed above daily. When teaching a skill like phonemic awareness scaffolding is necessary because this is a skill they will have to learn overtime, it is not something you can teach in a few days or weeks, so you have to be adamant, patient, and supportive of all your young learners.

References “Foundations of Literacy.” Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences (I-LABS), 27 May 2020, modules.ilabs.uw.edu/module/foundations-of-literacy/.