What ability allows someone to distinguish between similar sounds in different words?

The ability to distinguish between similar sounds in different words is known as phonemic awareness. This skill involves recognizing and manipulating individual sounds, or phonemes, in spoken language. It is a critical component of reading development because it enables learners to understand that words are made up of distinct sounds. Phonemic awareness allows individuals to identify which sounds are the same and which are different, facilitating their ability to decode written language and improve their reading fluency.

While sound discrimination, another option, also relates to the ability to hear differences in sounds, it typically encompasses a broader range of auditory perception that might include non-speech sounds. Consequently, while both phonemic awareness and sound discrimination involve the recognition of sound differences, phonemic awareness specifically targets the manipulation of phonemes within words, making it the more accurate answer in this context.

Articulation refers to the physical ability to produce sounds and words, while morphological awareness involves understanding the structure of words and the meanings of prefixes and suffixes. These concepts do not directly relate to the ability to distinguish between similar sounds in words. Thus, phonemic awareness is the most relevant and precise choice in regard to recognizing and manipulating phonemes in spoken language.