Reading and phonological awareness: What we have learned and how we can use it

More than two decades of research have shown that decoding skills are closely associated with phonological awareness, the ability to segment and manipulate sounds in words. The evidence suggests that this ability is associated with reading failure in many non‐readers, reading difficulties in poor readers, and even individual differences among average and above average readers. For many children, explicit phonological awareness skills do not come naturally, and some children do not develop this ability even with phonics instruction. However, phonological awareness can be successfully taught, both before and during reading instruction.