Which skill promotes understanding of the relationship between phonemes and graphemes?

Phonics is the skill that promotes understanding of the relationship between phonemes (the smallest units of sound) and graphemes (the letters or groups of letters that represent those sounds). Phonics instruction emphasizes decoding skills, helping students learn how to connect sounds to their corresponding letters or letter combinations when reading and writing. By understanding these relationships, learners can decode unfamiliar words and improve their reading fluency.

Print awareness encompasses a child’s recognition of the forms and functions of written language, but it does not directly address the sound-symbol relationship. Orthographic knowledge refers to the understanding of the spelling system of a language, including rules and patterns but is more focused on the visual representation of words than on the sound relationships inherent in phonics. Phonological awareness involves the larger sound structures of language, such as syllables and rhymes, but does not specifically address the sound-to-letter correspondence that phonics teaches.