Phonological awareness skills in children: Examining performance across tasks and ages

This study examined the performances of 171 children in kindergarten through second grade on 11 tasks of phonological awareness. The purpose was to assess phonological awareness skill acquisition across age and type of task. Results provided support for an ordering of tasks by difficulty, or age of mastery, as follows: rhyme, alliteration, blending, segmentation, manipulation. Performance on all of the tasks demonstrated rapid growth in 6-year-old children (first grade), and most tasks were mastered (90% correct) by the age of 7 years. The study also supports previous work indicating certain variables (i.e., age, verbal ability, letter-sound knowledge, reading skill) that are significantly related to performance on the phonological measures. Knowing the age at which students typically master these tasks and the order in which they acquire these skills should enhance our ability to assess both normal and delayed phonological awareness performance and help to inform instructional practices.