ABSTRACT
Abstract
The notion that the capacity to represent explicitly some aspects of the phonological structure of utterances is an important condition of the acquisition of alphabetic literacy has been, since its introduction by the Libermans and their coworkers, a cornerstone of research on reading acquisition. The capacity is generally referred to by the term "phonological awareness." With attention focused mainly on its role in the acquisition process, the question of the conditions under which phonological awareness itself develops has been somewhat neglected. One central issue is whether phonological awareness develops spontaneously, through maturation or sheer experience of speech communication, or whether it requires specific learning opportunities. In 1977, Liberman, Shankweiler, Liberman, Fowler, and Fischer proposed to approach the question through comparisons of the metaphonological abilities of populations with different educational experiences. Arguments favorable to a nonspontaneity view derive from the fact that illiterate adults, and also some readers of nonalphabetic scripts, show poor ability to manipulate utterances at the level of phonetic segments. The strength of the argument is being critically examined. The necessity to distinguish between different levels of phonological awareness is stressed and illustrated with some so far unpublished results. In spite of some contradictions, the bulk of the available evidence is compatible with the view that the capacity to appreciate phonological similarity and awareness of some submorphemic units, like syllables and rimes, develops spontaneously, but command of segmental units generally requires deliberate instructional help. Contrary to an often expressed opinion, this view is in no way inconsistent with the notion of an important role of phonological awareness in reading acquisition. Finally, it is suggested that the conception of phonological awareness as result394ing from "access" to intermediate stages or speech processing has created unnecessary difficulties for the kind of modular view advocated by Alvin Liberman and should be avoided.
