Chapter 12 - Phonological Awareness: Description, Assessment, and Intervention

What does running speech consist of?

Linguistic units such as sentences, words, syllables, morphemes, and phonemes.

Phonological awareness

The ability to consciously analyze the sound structure of speech (usually emerges in early childhood).

What are some examples of phonological awareness?

1. Rhyming

2. Identifying the beginning sounds in words

3. Segmenting (pulling words apart into individual phonemes)

There are integrative linkages b/w _________ _______

and acquisition of word-level reading skills (this is especially true for reading tasks that measure word recognition).

Phonological awareness

The intrasyllabic structure of a word in the English language can be distinguished on the basis of naturally occurring _______-______ units within a syllable.

Onset-rime

Onset

Refers to the consonant or consonant cluster that precedes the vowel in a syllable, for ex: the /h/ in /hog/ is the onset because it precedes the vowel.

Rime

Encompasses any vowel and a subsequent consonant, for ex: /og/ in /hog/ is the rime because it includes the vowel + consonant sound.

Metalinguistic

Thinking about language as an actual object of thought

Phonological awareness is contingent on and mediated by the child's access to the _________ of his or her language.

Phonology

Phonological processing, phonemic awareness, phonological sensitivity, phoneme analysis, and phonetic awareness and linguistic awareness have been interchangeably used with:

Phonological awareness

*Some scholars use the term only in reference to awareness at the level of the phoneme

Shallow levels of phonological awareness:

At this level, children are sensitive to the sound patterns that recur across and within words, for ex: bell vs. tell and doorbell vs. pancake; they can even blend and segment multisyllabic words, for : doorbell = door + bell

Deep levels of Awareness:

Children are more sensitive to the phonological structure of a word or syllable; they are able to compare, contrast, and even manipulate phonological segments within and across syllables and words, for ex: they can create new words by deleting phonemes (track turns into rack) and can count the number of sounds in individual words.

When is phoneme awareness fully realized in children?

When children can recognize that each word or syllable consists of a series of discrete phonemes and can explicitly identify, blend and segment these phonemes.

Quasi-parallel progression

Some researchers use this term to emphasize how children's sensitivity to words, syllables, onset/rimes, and phonemes emerges in overlapping rather than discrete stages.

Children's ability to represent and manipulate the phonological structure of words consciously is highly mediated by their _________ abilities and _____________.

Linguistic; experiences

Emergent literacy

Refers to skill and knowledge serving as prerequisite to reading and writing (these skills usually develop within preschool and early kindergarten)

*Includes print knowledge and phonemic awareness

Conventional literacy

Refers to fluent and skilled reading and writing (typically develops around late kindergarten and first grade or about 6-7 years of age). Conventional literacy is typically acquired within the context of formal instruction.

What is print knowledge?

Knowledge about forms and functions of written language

At what age do children begin to exhibit explicit awareness of syllable distinctions within multisyllabic words?

Around 4 years of age

Alliteration

The sharing of a phoneme across two words or syllables, such as the words bad and big.

Phoneme awareness

The ability to identify phonemes as the units comprising syllables and words; usually not mastered until about 6-7 years of age

True or false: children with speech sound disorders face increased risks for experiencing difficulty in phonological awareness.

True

For some children, difficulties with phonological development affect both ________ (a speech sound production problem) and ________ (a phonological awareness problem).

expression; reception

Which children are more susceptible for difficulties with phonological awareness and literacy achievement?

Children who:

1. Have speech difficulties are still pronounced at the onset of literacy instruction (kindergarten and first grade) and who have limited phoneme awareness.

2. Children w/ phonological disorders who have receptive and/or expressive language difficulties.

The role of the SLP for addressing phonological awareness:

1. Prevention- encourage development of phonological awareness w/ focus on high-frequency engagement of children in naturalistic exposure to phonological properties of oral language, for ex: listening to nursery rhymes

2. Identification- Recognize children who are experiencing difficulties in phonological awareness attainment by: a) observing children during phonological awareness activities and b) educating other professionals on strategies for identifying early problems w/ phonological awareness

3. Assessment- adopt a protocol that includes phonological awareness, for ex: preschool assessment includes rhyme an alliteration awareness and emphasizes informal observation; school-age assessment includes syllable and phonemic awareness and can be accomplished using standardized or criterion-based measures.

4. Intervention- Implement curriculum-relevant and collaborative interventions that are individualized to target those aspects of phonological awareness that require attention for particular children. For ex: preschool and kindergarten children focus on rhyme and alliteration awareness and only later target analysis at the level of the syllable and phoneme. For elementary students, training in phonological awareness should be combined with explicit alphabetic principle instruction.