ABSTRACT
Phonological awareness precedes phonics skills and is usually dependent on listening experience. It depends on being able to hear and manipulate the sounds in spoken language, such as words, syllables and rhyme before progressing to the understanding of individual sounds in words. For some children, including those who are deaf or have other significant auditory or processing difficulties, these skills may not develop on their own, and they will need visual strategies and direct teaching to help raise their awareness of the sounds and patterns in spoken language. Vocabulary used in phonics schemes can be somewhat abstract or obscure, but for children with limited language, it is really important that they understand the meaning of any words which are used as a phonics focus. For children who are not able to access phonics solely through audition, there needs to be an emphasis on learning about segmentation of sounds through visual methods.
