At its simplest, comprehension means to understand what is being communicated. While this seems straight-forward to us as literate adults, it’s actually an incredibly complicated process for young children to master.
Most researchers distinguish between listening comprehension and reading comprehension. The two are related, and both draw upon similar areas in the brain to process incoming information, but there are some important differences. We will explore these, and the impact they have on teaching young children, below.
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Decoding is the act of systematically turning written words into spoken words by matching written letter or letter-clusters to oral sounds. Students must be able to decode unknown words while reading. There are several different ways to do this: letter-by-letter (phoneme) decoding, pattern decoding, and decoding by analogy. Although all three are powerful skills, none of them comes “naturally.” Decoding must be directly taught in order for students to learn how to read.
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Phonics defines the relationship between written letters and spoken sounds. For instance, the knowledge that the letter “B” makes a “buh” sound is phonics.
Young children must be able to instantly translate a letter or letter cluster into the correct sound (and vice versa) in order to effectively read and write. This translation between letters and sounds is the central skill in phonics.
Phonics instruction in schools should be both explicit, with the relationships between letters and sounds directly taught, and systematic, where letter-sound relationships are presented in a pre-determined order. Research clearly shows that a school phonics program which meets these criteria results in stronger readers at an earlier age.
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Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in spoken language.
Phonemic awareness activities deal only with speaking and listening. There is no print component — no talk of letter names nor written words — in phonemic awareness.
Educators often say that you can recognize a phonemic awareness activity because it can be completed in a pitch black room (although doing so would probably be weird). There is nothing to see while exercising one’s phonemic awareness.
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