what is phonemic awareness

Phonemic awareness is a part of phonological awareness, which is the ability to recognize and manipulate the spoken parts of words, including syllables, onset-rime, and phonemes. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. For example, separating the spoken word "cat" into three distinct phonemes, /k/, /æ/, and /t/, requires phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is a crucial skill for learning to read and spell, as it is the basis for learning phonics. The National Reading Panel has found that phonemic awareness improves childrens word reading and reading comprehension and helps children learn to spell. Phonemic awareness instruction should be deliberate and purposeful, not merely incidental "play with sounds". An effective phonemic awareness program explicitly teaches students to recognize, understand, and manipulate sounds in their spoken language, and it addresses six phonemic awareness skills.