Which term describes the process of sounding out unknown words by linking letters to sounds?

Which term describes the process of sounding out unknown words by linking letters to sounds?

• A. Phonological awareness
• B. Phoneme
• C. Phonology
• D. Phonics

Answer: (D)

This question is about decoding written words by using letter-to-sound relationships. The term for sounding out unknown words by linking letters to their sounds is phonics. Phonics teaches how letters (graphemes) map to sounds (phonemes) and how to blend those sounds to pronounce words, which is the essential skill for reading unfamiliar text. Phonological awareness, by contrast, is about hearing and manipulating sounds in spoken language, not about linking those sounds to written letters. A phoneme is an individual sound, not a process. Phonology is the overall system of sounds in a language.

This question is about decoding written words by using letter-to-sound relationships. The term for sounding out unknown words by linking letters to their sounds is phonics. Phonics teaches how letters (graphemes) map to sounds (phonemes) and how to blend those sounds to pronounce words, which is the essential skill for reading unfamiliar text.

Phonological awareness, by contrast, is about hearing and manipulating sounds in spoken language, not about linking those sounds to written letters. A phoneme is an individual sound, not a process. Phonology is the overall system of sounds in a language.