Phonemic Awareness and Reading Ability in Literate Adults

Abstract

This dissertation is an examination phonemic awareness and its relationship to reading ability in literate adults. Phonemic awareness is an indisputable predictor of reading ability in children, but whether the same relationship between phonemic awareness and reading exists in adult readers is unknown. All alphabetically literate adults are understood to be phonemically aware to a certain degree. Moreover, adults pay attention to sound/symbol relationships when reading. Yet, the relationship between phonemic awareness and reading ability in alphabetically literate adults has not been explicitly studied, even though phonemic awareness is understood to be a key component of reading strategy and proficiency. A study was conducted on phonemic and syllabic awareness in adults. The results indicate that adults, despite years of alphabetic reading experience, are differentiated with regard to phonemic awareness and are more syllabically aware than phonemically aware. Additionally, the study demonstrates that phonemic awareness is associated with reading ability in adults, though syllabic awareness is not. Implications and directions for future study are discussed.