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Child Development & Early Education vocabulary · Language and Communication

Phonological awareness

Meaning in child development & early education, with examples

nounCommon term

In child development & early education, phonological awareness means: The ability to hear and play with the sounds in spoken words, such as noticing rhymes, clapping syllables or hearing the first sound in a word.

In Turkish: sesbilgisel farkındalık, fonolojik farkındalık

How it is used

Used in literacy research and planning, where it is seen as a strong predictor of later reading. Phonemic awareness is the narrower skill of working with single sounds (phonemes). Typical activities are rhymes, songs and sound games.

Example sentences

  1. Nursery rhymes are a simple way to build phonological awareness.

  2. Clapping the syllables in their names supports children's phonological awareness.

Common collocations

  • develop phonological awareness
  • phonemic awareness
  • rhyme and alliteration
  • syllable clapping
  • emergent literacyThe early knowledge and skills that come before conventional reading and writing, such as enjoying books, knowing that print has meaning, recognising some letters and scribbling.
  • language developmentThe process by which children learn to understand and use language, from crying and babbling to words, sentences and conversation.
  • receptive languageA child's ability to understand language: following instructions, understanding words and questions, and making sense of what other people say.
  • child-directed speechThe way adults often talk to babies and young children, with a higher, more musical voice, simple words, short sentences and a lot of repetition.

More terms: Language and Communication

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