Which phase describes a more advanced level where individuals recognize most letter-sound correspondences and can decode words by sounding out and blending?

• A. Prealphabetic
• B. Partial alphabetic
• C. Full alphabetic
• D. Consolidated alphabetic

Answer: (C)

Think about how readers move from just recognizing visuals to actively mapping sounds to letters and blending those sounds to pronounce words. In this stage, learners have mastered most letter-sound relationships and can decode unfamiliar words by sounding out each phoneme and blending them together. That smooth blending and accurate decoding as they see new words is the hallmark of the full alphabetic phase. Earlier phases involve less complete mappings or reliance on cues instead of phoneme-by-phoneme decoding, while later stages shift toward using larger spelling patterns and chunks rather than decoding every sound individually. So the description fits the full alphabetic phase.