Language Disorders - The Drake Institute

Definitions of Individual Language Skills

Phonemes: The smallest units of sound that make a difference with regards to meaning. The spoken word, “rope” is comprised of three phonemes: /r/, /o/, and /p/. There are 44 phonemes in the English language.

Phonemic Awareness: Every spoken word is a sequence of phonemes. Because phonemes are the units of sound that are represented by the letters of an alphabet, an awareness of phonemes is key to understanding the logic of the alphabetic principle and the ability to then learn spelling and phonics. An individual with slow auditory processing speed cannot recognize and process word sounds accurately and will not be able to make the right associations between letter representation and spoken language.

Phonological Awareness: This is the general ability to recognize and use all sizes of sound units such as words, syllables, and phonemes. Noticing similarities between words in their sounds, enjoying rhymes, and counting syllables are indications of phonological awareness.

Phonics: Instructional practices that emphasize how spellings are related to speech sounds in systematic ways.

Sound-Letter Recognition: To learn to read English, children must associate 44 phonemes of spoken English that can change meaning with the 26 letters of the alphabet. This association requires a child to understand that words can be broken down into small sounds or phonemes - this is “phonemic awareness”.

Oral Language Comprehension: As phonemic and phonological awareness are developed, sophisticated skills such as language comprehension have a strong foundation. Additionally, visual word recognition, grammar, and syntax comprehension, the ability to follow directions, verbal and reading fluency, working memory, and event sequencing all combine to support the next level of skills involved in oral language comprehension and expressive language usage.

Expressive Language: This includes, participating in class, recounting events and stories in their proper order and confidently and accurately expressing thoughts. Because they understand better, students with improved receptive language skills can develop better expressive language skills.

Decoding: When children have “cracked the alphabetic code,” they have added decoding skills to their solid reading foundation. Decoding is a sophisticated understanding of how printed letters represent the sounds of language. This includes an understanding that print conveys meaning and an awareness of relationships between print and speech.