What is a primary goal of phonemic awareness instruction?

The primary goal of phonemic awareness instruction is to help children recognize and manipulate the sounds in spoken words. Phonemic awareness is a critical skill that lays the foundation for reading and spelling, as it involves the ability to identify and work with the individual phonemes in words. This skill enables children to decode and encode words, which is essential for developing literacy. By focusing on sounds rather than letters, phonemic awareness instruction helps children become aware of the auditory components of language, making it easier for them to understand the relationship between sounds and their written representations. This foundational skill supports further literacy development as students progress in their reading and writing abilities.