New Hampshire Foundations of Reading Practice Test

How can one differentiate between phonemic awareness and phonics?

1. Phonics involves letters; phonemic awareness does not

2. Phonics focuses on written sentences; phonemic awareness on spoken sentences

3. Phonics is taught after reading; phonemic awareness is taught before

4. Phonics uses visual images; phonemic awareness uses auditory sounds

The correct answer is: Phonics involves letters; phonemic awareness does not

Phonics and phonemic awareness are two essential components of reading instruction, but they serve different functions in the development of literacy skills. The correct choice highlights that phonics specifically involves the relationship between letters (graphemes) and the sounds they represent (phonemes), which means it incorporates written language. This includes understanding how to decode written words by applying knowledge of letter-sound relationships. On the other hand, phonemic awareness is an auditory skill that does not involve letters or written text. It focuses entirely on the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. For instance, a child with strong phonemic awareness can blend sounds to form a word or segment a word into its constituent sounds without any reference to written representation. Thus, indicating that phonics involves letters whereas phonemic awareness does not accurately captures the fundamental difference between these two concepts and clarifies their roles in reading development.