How is phonological awareness defined?

Phonological awareness is defined as the ability to identify and manipulate sound units in language, which includes skills such as recognizing rhymes, counting syllables, and identifying the beginning sounds of words. This foundational skill is crucial for developing reading proficiency because it helps learners understand the sound structure of their language, which is essential for decoding words when reading and encoding them when writing. The emphasis on manipulating sounds—such as blending, segmenting, and deleting phonemes—underscores how phonological awareness lays the groundwork for further literacy skills. Understanding and working with sound at this level is a key indicator of a child's readiness to learn to read.