ABSTRACT
Many investigators have proposed that children's knowledge of spoken language plays an important role in their acquisition of printed language. This chapter focuses on one particular aspect of spoken language structure, phonological units that are intermediate in size between syllables and phonemes. It reviews the linguistic status of intrayllabic units. The chapter then discusses the role of these units in the development of phonological awareness in children. It considers the effects of intrasyllabic units on the way that children learn to read and spell. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how children's awareness of intrasyllabic units might be put to use in the teaching of reading and spelling. Many researchers have investigated children's awareness of the phonological units of spoken language. Many young children can divide spoken syllables at the onset/rime boundary in a variety of phonological awareness tasks.
