A child hears the sounds /s/ /n/ /a/ /p/ and is asked to put them together to form a word. What skill is being targeted?

The skill being targeted is phoneme blending. This process involves combining individual sounds, or phonemes, to form a complete word. In this scenario, where a child is prompted to hear the distinct sounds /s/, /n/, /a/, and /p/ and then merge them to say the word “snap,” it illustrates the child’s ability to blend those sounds seamlessly.

Phoneme blending is a fundamental literacy skill crucial for reading development, as it directly influences a child’s ability to decode words. Recognizing how to blend individual sounds into coherent words supports the child’s overall reading fluency and comprehension.

The other potential options focus on slightly different aspects of phonological processing. Phoneme segmentation involves breaking down a word into its individual sounds, phoneme recognition pertains to identifying and distinguishing between different sounds, and phoneme substitution refers to replacing one phoneme with another in a word. However, none of these skills is being applied in the specific context of combining sounds into a word as presented in this question.