Why focus on phonological awareness?
There is much more to literacy than can be taught through the visual route alone. Use of a phonological route is critical in the Simple Model of Reading (Rose Review). Systematic phonic work is widely accepted as being critical in a positive outcome for reading. “Findings show that systematic phonics instruction produced superior performance in reading compared to all types of unsystematic or no phonic work. Phonics instruction is systematic when all the major grapheme-phoneme correspondences are taught in a clearly defined sequence’ (Ehri 2003). In 1998, the DFEE defined phonological awareness as “awareness of sounds within words – demonstrated for example by the ability to generate rhyme, alliteration and in segmenting and blending compound sounds”. Phonological awareness is an awareness of the ways ‘in which words and syllables can be divided into smaller units” (Goswami & Bryant, 1990) or an awareness of the sound system of language that allows an individual to make judgements abou
