Speech and writing development are tightly connected processes. A child reaches the literacy phase naturally through the process of speech development. S.F. Mol and A.G. Bus (2011) stress that children assimilate the connection between the spoken words and their written forms first and develop awareness of the sound-letter connection. In this manner, children learn the alphabet first and then the connection of the sound-letter, which leads to processing phonological information (analysis and synthesis). In the concluding stage, children develop their spelling skills. Phonological awareness turns out to be a key skill that enables to break down the speech into individual units, which helps a child to learn to read and write.
Phonological awareness is an important cognitive process that enables the recognition and manipulation of sounds in spoken language, and consequently plays a crucial role in the development of literacy. Previous researches confirm that success in initial reading and writing is strongly connected to the level of development of phonological awareness. The latter does not develop in isolation but under the influence of the spelling characteristics of language. Some researches confirm that orthography influences the process of phonological awareness as well. This is shown mainly when the pronunciation of a word does not fit its written image.
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