Foundations of Language and Literacy
What to know
Candidates must distinguish the language systems that underpin literacy: phonology (the sound system), phonemic awareness (the oral ability to isolate and manipulate individual phonemes), phonics (letter-sound correspondences in print), morphology (meaningful units), syntax (sentence structure), semantics (word meaning), and pragmatics (social use of language). Know the alphabetic principle, common syllable types, orthographic patterns, and the progression from emergent literacy to fluent reading. Understand that phonemic awareness is oral and can be assessed without letters, while phonics is print-based. Morphology includes free and bound morphemes and derivational versus inflectional affixes; etymology helps explain spelling patterns such as silent letters and cognates. For English learners, know concepts such as language transfer, cognate knowledge, and academic language. Adolescent literacy requires disciplinary vocabulary and comprehension beyond decoding.
Traps
Questions often conflate phonemic awareness with phonics, or phonological awareness with phonemic awareness; phonemic awareness is the narrowest. Do not confuse syntax with meaning. Morphology is not etymology, though both can explain spelling. Another trap is assuming older students no longer need word-study instruction; they need morphemic and academic vocabulary support. Treat dialect differences as systematic language variation, not deficits.
Worked example
Segment unbreakable into un- (bound, 'not'), break (free base), and -able (bound, 'capable of'). This is morphological analysis, not phonics. Rule of thumb: if the task uses letters, it is phonics or orthography; if it uses spoken sounds only, it is phonemic awareness.