In the context of reading instruction, what does phonological awareness encompass?

Phonological awareness is a crucial aspect of reading instruction that involves the ability to recognize and manipulate the sound structures of language. This includes skills such as the ability to identify and work with individual phonemes, which are the smallest units of sound in speech. The ability to manipulate phonemes includes activities like blending sounds to form words, segmenting words into their constituent sounds, and deleting or substituting sounds in words. These skills are foundational for developing reading and spelling abilities, as they help learners understand the relationship between sounds and their corresponding letters.

In contrast, understanding the meaning of words pertains to vocabulary knowledge, which is not a focus of phonological awareness. Recognizing written symbols relates to letter recognition and orthographic skills rather than the auditory aspects of phonological awareness. Comprehending complex sentences involves syntactic understanding and higher-level language processing, which also falls outside the domain of phonological awareness. Thus, the correct answer accurately captures the essential component of phonological awareness as it specifically relates to sound manipulation.