What process do students use to apply sound-symbol relationships while reading and writing?

The process that students use to apply sound-symbol relationships while reading and writing is phonic analysis. This method involves breaking down words into their component sounds (phonemes) and matching these sounds with their corresponding letters or groups of letters (graphemes). This connection is fundamental in helping students decode written text—converting printed language into spoken words—and in encoding their spoken language into written text.

Phonic analysis supports early readers in understanding how sounds correlate with letters, enabling them to read unfamiliar words by sounding them out. It is an essential skill for developing literacy, as it lays the groundwork for more advanced reading and writing abilities. This type of analysis is integral to phonics instruction and is often a core component of reading curricula aimed at fostering proficiency among students.

Other options relate to different aspects of literacy that, while important, do not directly focus on the sound-symbol relationships at the foundation of reading and writing skills.