Ability to read fluently is an art that is learnt consciously over a period of time. However, it is not fun for some students who struggle greatly with the entire process. In this regard, effort has been made to identify some of these challenges and how to tackle them. They are:
1. Phonological and phonemic awareness: Phonological awareness involves identifying and manipulating units of oral language- parts such as words, syllables, etc. Here, a student is able to identify and make oral rhymes, point out the number of syllables in a word, and can recognize words with the same initial sounds like “money” and “mother”. On the other hand, phonemic awareness refers to the specific ability to focus on and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. Phonemes combine to form syllables and words. For example, the word ‘mat’ has three phonemes: /m/, /a/, /t/. There are 44 phonemic sounds in English. Acquiring phonemic awareness is important because it is the foundation for spelling and word recognition skills. Read more here: http://wealthyteacherssecrets..com.ng/2015/12/reading-challenges-in-students.html