What is the Difference Between Phonics and Phonological Awareness?

The methods and theories of teaching children to read have literally gone in circles. Years ago the focus was on phonics. Then studies were released that supported a whole word concept of learning rather than focusing on the individual sounds. Years passed and the tide turned again back to phonics. In the book, Scaffolding Emergent Literacy A Child-Centered Approach for Preschool through Grade 5, the authors address the issue. "There is a strong 'Back to Basics' movement in the educational and political arena, which includes an emphasis on a strong phonics approach. To a degree, the call for phonics is not unfounded. Phonics is an important tool in the literacy process. It is not, however, the only tool. The power of phonological awareness is also staunchly recognized as a very powerful apparatus for literacy development.

What is phonics?

Phonics is the connection between graphemes (letter symbols) and sounds. Because we have been readers for a good portion of our lives this relationship seems apparent and common sense. At the very core of phonics lies the alphabet. In order to master phonics a person must master the alphabet. Letters then need to be connected to their corresponding sounds. As we know as English speakers, this is easier said than done. Many letters can represent a number of different sounds. Thus learning phonics is an ongoing process for a developing reader.

Role of Phonics in Reading

As you may have noticed phonics and phonemic awareness (the understanding that words are comprised of small segments of sound) are intimately connected. Phonics relies heavily on a reader’s phonemic awareness. The reader must not only understand that words are made up of phonemes (small units of sound), he must also know a number of phonemes. Since a reader’s primary phonemic awareness develops through speaking and listening, most children come to reading with many phonemes stored in their knowledge banks. Phonics instruction connects these phonemes with written letters so that they can transfer their knowledge of sounds to the printed word. This is why phonics instruction is an important component of early reading education.

The goal of phonics instruction is to help readers quickly determine the sounds in unfamiliar written words. When readers encounter new words in texts they use the elements of phonics to decode and understand them. Phonics instruction has a strong impact on the reading abilities of young children. Those receiving phonics instruction in the early grades (K-1) showed significant gains in their reading comprehension and spelling abilities and moderate growth in oral reading ski

What is Phonemic awareness?

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds-phonemes--in spoken words. Before children learn to read print, they need to become more aware of how the sounds in words work. They must understand that words are made up of speech sounds, or phonemes (the smallest parts of sound in a spoken word that make a difference in a word's meaning).

 

Why Phonemic Awareness Is Important

 

·    It improves students' word reading and comprehension.

·    It helps students learn to spell.