Which cognitive process is essential for decoding skills?

Phonological awareness is a crucial cognitive process for decoding skills because it involves the ability to recognize and manipulate the sounds in spoken language. This includes skills such as recognizing the individual phonemes (the smallest units of sound), blending sounds together to form words, and segmenting words into their constituent sounds.

Developing phonological awareness enables learners to understand that words are made up of distinct sounds, which is fundamental when they encounter written text. If students can identify and differentiate these sounds, they can apply that knowledge to decode words when reading. Strong phonological awareness is therefore a strong predictor of reading success, making it an essential component in the development of effective decoding skills. This developmental process serves as the foundation that supports the relationship between sound and written language, allowing for fluent reading and comprehension.