Reading Instruction Competence Assessment (RICA) Practice Test

What is the primary objective of phoneme blending?

1. To help children identify the meaning of words

2. To teach children to combine sounds to form words

3. To recognize individual phonemes in isolation

4. To develop reading comprehension skills

The correct answer is: To teach children to combine sounds to form words

The primary objective of phoneme blending is to teach children to combine sounds to form words. This skill is crucial in early literacy development, as it allows learners to understand how individual sounds (phonemes) come together to create comprehensible units of meaning (words). By mastering phoneme blending, children can decode words more effectively, which is foundational for their reading skills. When children are able to blend sounds, they can identify and pronounce new words independently, which enhances their reading fluency and confidence. This skill also sets the groundwork for further phonemic awareness activities, which are vital for developing more advanced reading and spelling abilities. The other options do not align with the main goal of phoneme blending. While recognizing individual phonemes in isolation is important, it does not encompass the act of combining them into words. Understanding word meanings and reading comprehension skills are significant facets of literacy but are not the primary focus of phoneme blending specifically.