Correct Response: A. Phonological and phonemic awareness skills develop along a continuum from basic to more complex skills. Phonemic awareness is a more advanced type of phonological awareness that involves the ability to distinguish and manipulate the individual phonemes in spoken words. Segmenting all the phonemes in a four-phoneme word (chimp) and then substituting the phoneme /ŏ/ for /ĭ/ to make a new word (chomp) are both tasks that involve complex skills at the higher end of the phonological awareness continuum. B, C, and D are incorrect because segmenting words into syllables and then counting the syllables (B), segmenting words into their onset and rime (C), and recognizing alliterative words—words that begin with the same phoneme (D)—are less complex skills that children develop earlier along the phonological awareness continuum.
