Which of the following is a fundamental component of phonemic awareness?

Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. This skill is crucial for learning to read and spell, as it supports the understanding of the relationship between sounds and their corresponding letters. In this context, manipulating sounds in spoken words involves tasks such as blending sounds to form words, segmenting words into their individual sounds, and deleting or substituting sounds within words. This foundational skill is aimed specifically at the auditory processing of sounds, which is distinct from visual or linguistic tasks.

Recognizing numbers, identifying letter names, and reading aloud with expression, while related to literacy skills, do not directly involve the manipulation of phonemes, which is why they do not fit the definition of phonemic awareness. Thus, the ability to manipulate sounds is at the core of developing phonemic awareness and is essential for children's reading development.