You’ve probably heard terms like ‘phonological awareness’ and ‘phonological memory’ if your child has communication or literacy challenges. Though they sound similar, they describe two different but interconnected skills—both essential for language learning.
Understanding the distinction can help you better support your child’s development.
What is Phonological Awareness?
Phonological awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and play with the individual sounds in spoken words. It includes skills such as:
- Rhyming (e.g. ‘cat’ rhymes with ‘hat’)
- Counting syllables in words
- Identifying the first and last sound in a word
- Segmenting and blending sounds (e.g. breaking ‘dog’ into /d/ /o/ /g/)
These skills are foundational for learning to read and spell.
What is Phonological Working Memory?
Phonological working memory is your child’s ability to hold sounds in mind long enough to use them. For example:
- Remembering a spoken sentence to write it down
- Holding a string of sounds while decoding or spelling a word
A child with poor phonological memory might forget sounds mid-task, making reading and writing more effortful and frustrating.
Why the Difference Matters
Phonological awareness is about recognising and manipulating sound patterns. Phonological memory is about storing those patterns while using them.
A child might be able to identify that ‘ship’ starts with /sh/, but if they can’t hold the rest of the sounds in mind long enough to write them down, spelling breaks down. That’s where both awareness and memory must work together.
What You Can Do at Home
- Play rhyming and sound games (e.g. ‘I spy with my little eye, something that starts with /s/’)
- Encourage repetition and verbal rehearsal
- Use music, clapping, or movement to support syllable counting
- Use visual reminders and chunk tasks into short steps
Need more help? Our online course ‘Unlocking Dyslexia: Supporting Working Memory and Phonological Skills’ is now available at Articulate Kids.
Key Takeaway: Phonological awareness and memory are both vital for literacy. Strengthening them lays the groundwork for confident reading and writing.
