What is the term for a system that identifies letter-sound relationships?

The term that identifies letter-sound relationships is phonics. Phonics involves understanding how specific letters and combinations of letters correspond to the sounds of spoken language. It is a foundational skill in teaching reading, as it allows learners to decode words by associating written letters with their respective sounds. This systematic approach helps students to develop their reading abilities by enabling them to sound out words they have not seen before, facilitating both reading and spelling skills.

In contrast, phonetics pertains to the study of the sounds themselves, including their articulation and acoustic properties, rather than their relationships with written symbols. Phonology focuses on the abstract, cognitive aspects of sounds in language and how they function within a specific language system. Letter recognition, while an important skill, simply refers to identifying letters and does not encompass the relationship of those letters to sounds. Thus, phonics is the appropriate term that encapsulates the systematic approach to teaching letter-sound relationships.