Which term refers to the ability to recognize and manipulate the sounds of spoken language, including words, syllables, and phonemes?

• A. Phonological awareness
• B. Phonemic awareness
• C. Syllables
• D. Onset

Answer: (A)

Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate sounds in spoken language across different units, from whole words down to individual phonemes. This broad skill covers working with words, breaking them into syllables, and identifying or changing the phonemes inside words. The prompt highlights handling sounds at multiple levels, not just the smallest sounds, so this broad term fits best. If we focus only on the smallest sounds, that would be phonemic awareness, which is narrower and doesn’t encompass words and syllables. Syllables and onset describe specific parts of a word, not the overall ability.