Learning Literacy Glossary
Phoneme
The smallest sound part in spoken language, like /c/ in "cat".
Phonemic Awareness
The ability to identify and play with individual sounds in spoken words.
Phonics
Reading instruction on understanding how letters and groups of letters link to sounds to form letter-sound relationships and spelling patterns.
Phonological Awareness
The ability to recognize that spoken words are made up of individual sound parts.
Phonological Memory
The ability to store and recall the sounds of speech in short term memory. It is distinct from phonological awareness, which only refers to the ability to identify sounds.
Phonological Processing
The ability to quickly and correctly hear, store, recall, and make different speech sounds.
Pragmatics
How we use language to communicate.
Print Awareness
The understanding that what is read is linked to the words on the page, rather than to the pictures.
The research reported here is funded by awards to the National Center on Improving Literacy from the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, in partnership with the Office of Special Education Programs (Award #: S283D160003). The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of OESE, OSEP, or the U.S. Department of Education. Copyright © 2024 National Center on Improving Literacy. https://www.improvingliteracy.org