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Glossary of terms

Click or hover over each of the below terms to reveal their meaning.

Phonological awareness

Phonological awareness

...is an awareness of the sound structures in words. It includes the ability to identify and manipulate (add, delete, and swap) the sounds in spoken language and is an essential foundational skill in early literacy development.

Alphabetic knowledge

Alphabetic knowledge

...refers to a broad set of skills such as recognising letters, knowing their sounds, and using this knowledge to read and spell words.

Phonemes

Phonemes

...are the smallest units of sound in spoken language.

Graphemes

Graphemes

...are the smallest units of written language that represent sounds.

Onset and rime

Onset and rime

...refers to the division of a syllable into two parts: the initial consonant(s) (onset) and the following vowel and final consonant(s) (rime). Onset and rime are used when teaching rhyme and can also be used for segmenting and blending practice.

Phoneme isolation

Phoneme isolation

...is the ability to recognise and identify a specific sound in a word.

Nonsense words

Nonsense words

...a nonsense word is a made-up word that has no real meaning but is used in activities designed to help children practise phonics, letter-sound relationships, and decoding skills eg. 'zog.'

Encoding

Encoding

...the process of spelling words by matching sounds (phonemes) to letters (graphemes).

Vowels

Vowels

...are speech sounds produced without blocking the flow of air and represented by the letters A, E, I, O, and U. Vowels can produce both short and long sounds, like /æ/ in 'cat' and /ā/ in 'cake.'

Letter-sound correspondence

...helps learners connect the symbols they see in writing with the sounds they hear when speaking.

Letter formation

Letter formation

...the ability to write or trace letters correctly

Segmenting

Segmenting

...is the ability to break sentences, phrases, or words into smaller parts.

Blending

Blending

...is the ability to join speech sounds together to form words.

Decoding

Decoding

...is the process of segmenting words into sounds and blending sounds together to read words. It requires alphabetic knowledge.

VC, CVC, CVCC, and CCVC Words

VC, CVC, CVCC, and CCVC Words

...are categories of words used with beginning readers. An example of a consonant-vowel-consonant word is ‘cat.’

Auditory discrimination

Auditory discrimination

...is the ability to distinguish between different sounds in spoken words, such as the difference between ‘bat’ and ‘cat.’

Phonemic awareness

Phonemic awareness

...is a subset of phonological awareness. It's the ability to hear, identify and manipulate (swap, delete or add) the smallest units of sound in a spoken word.

Syllabication

Syllabication

...the process of dividing words into syllables to make them easier to read and spell.

High-frequency words

High-frequency words

...are words that appear frequently in texts but may not follow basic phonetic patterns, making them difficult to decode.

Phonics

Phonics

...is the method of teaching reading that focuses on the relationship between sounds (phonemes) and their written symbols (graphemes). Phonics helps children decode (sound out) words based on their letter-sound relationships.

Letter recognition

Letter recognition

...the ability to visually identify and name the letters of the alphabet.

Phonological awareness

...is an awareness of the sound structures in words. It includes the ability to identify and manipulate (add, delete, and swap) the sounds in spoken language and is an essential foundational skill in early literacy development.

Alphabetic knowledge

...refers to a broad set of skills such as recognising letters, knowing their sounds, and using this knowledge to read and spell words.

Phonemes

...are the smallest units of sound in spoken language.

Graphemes

...are the smallest units of written language that represent sounds.

Onset and rime

...refers to the division of a syllable into two parts: the initial consonant(s) (onset) and the following vowel and final consonant(s) (rime). Onset and rime are used when teaching rhyme and can also be used for segmenting and blending practice.

Phoneme isolation

...is the ability to recognise and identify a specific sound in a word.

Nonsense words

...a nonsense word is a made-up word that has no real meaning but is used in activities designed to help children practise phonics, letter-sound relationships, and decoding skills eg. 'zog.'

Encoding

...the process of spelling words by matching sounds (phonemes) to letters (graphemes).

Vowels

...are speech sounds produced without blocking the flow of air and represented by the letters A, E, I, O, and U. Vowels can produce both short and long sounds, like /æ/ in 'cat' and /ā/ in 'cake.'

Blending

...is the ability to join speech sounds together to form words.

Decoding

...is the process of segmenting words into sounds and blending sounds together to read words. It requires alphabetic knowledge.

Segmenting

...is the ability to break sentences, phrases, or words into smaller parts.

Auditory discrimination

...is the ability to distinguish between different sounds in spoken words, such as the difference between ‘bat’ and ‘cat.’

Phonemic awareness

...is a subset of phonological awareness. It's the ability to hear, identify and manipulate (swap, delete or add) the smallest units of sound in a spoken word.

VC, CVC, CVCC, and CCVC Words

...are categories of words used with beginning readers. An example of a consonant-vowel-consonant word is ‘cat.’

High-frequency words

...are words that appear frequently in texts but may not follow basic phonetic patterns, making them difficult to decode.

Phonics

...is the method of teaching reading that focuses on the relationship between sounds (phonemes) and their written symbols (graphemes). Phonics helps children decode (sound out) words based on their letter-sound relationships.

Syllabication

...the process of dividing words into syllables to make them easier to read and spell.

Letter-sound correspondence

...helps learners connect the symbols they see in writing with the sounds they hear when speaking.

Letter recognition

...the ability to visually identify and name the letters of the alphabet.

Letter formation

...the ability to write or trace letters correctly.

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