Understanding the Impact of Phonemic Awareness on Reading Achievement

Explanation:

Of phonemic awareness and mastery of letter names, only phonemic awareness is causally related to later reading achievement. Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds, which are called phonemes. A strong foundation in phonemic awareness is critical for children because it helps them to learn the relationship between sounds and their spellings, which is a key component of learning to read. Mastery of letter names, while important, does not have the same direct causal relationship with reading achievement as phonemic awareness does.