Which skill involves breaking a word into its individual sounds in sequence?

Which skill involves breaking a word into its individual sounds in sequence?

• A. Phoneme segmentation
• B. Phoneme blending
• C. Phoneme deletion
• D. Phoneme identification

Answer: (A)

This skill is phoneme segmentation—breaking a word into its individual sounds in sequence. For example, taking the word “cat” and saying the sounds in order: /k/ /æ/ /t/. This is about isolating and ordering the sounds, not just hearing them all together. It’s different from blending, which is putting sounds together to form a word (hearing /k/ /æ/ /t/ and saying “cat”). It’s also different from deletion, which is removing a sound to hear what remains, and from phoneme identification, which is recognizing which sounds are present without necessarily separating them. Phoneme segmentation is a foundational skill because it helps with decoding and spelling by making the individual sounds in words clear.

This skill is phoneme segmentation—breaking a word into its individual sounds in sequence. For example, taking the word “cat” and saying the sounds in order: /k/ /æ/ /t/. This is about isolating and ordering the sounds, not just hearing them all together.

It’s different from blending, which is putting sounds together to form a word (hearing /k/ /æ/ /t/ and saying “cat”). It’s also different from deletion, which is removing a sound to hear what remains, and from phoneme identification, which is recognizing which sounds are present without necessarily separating them. Phoneme segmentation is a foundational skill because it helps with decoding and spelling by making the individual sounds in words clear.