The acquisition of reading and writing involves the progressive development of linguistic and cognitive skills that enable children to understand the relationship between oral language and its written representation. Among these skills, phonological awareness plays an important role because it involves the ability to identify and consciously manipulate the sound structure of spoken language.
Phonological awareness is a broad concept that includes sensitivity to rhyme and syllable structure, as well as the ability to identify and manipulate phonemes. Phonemic awareness refers specifically to the ability to identify and manipulate phonemes, the smallest sound units of spoken language. This distinction is relevant to speech and language therapy because intervention activities can be organized progressively, moving from larger phonological units toward increasingly complex operations involving individual phonemes.
Phonological Awareness and Its Role in the Development of Reading and Writing Skills: Implications for Speech and Language Therapy