Phonemic awareness is crucial for what aspect of reading instruction?

Phonemic awareness is crucial for decoding unfamiliar words because it involves the ability to recognize and manipulate the individual sounds, or phonemes, in spoken words. This skill is foundational for reading because it allows students to break down words into their component sounds, helping them to sound out words they have not encountered before. When students have a strong grasp of phonemic awareness, they can more easily connect the sounds they hear to the letters that represent those sounds, which is essential in the process of decoding.

Decoding is a critical skill for beginning readers as it enables them to read words on the page accurately. For example, if a student encounters the word "cat," their ability to identify the sounds /k/, /æ/, and /t/ allows them to blend these sounds together to read the word successfully. Therefore, phonemic awareness directly supports the development of decoding strategies, making it an essential focus in early reading instruction.