Which process involves sounding out a printed sequence of letters based on knowledge of letter-sound correspondences?

• A. Decoding
• B. Bottom Up
• C. Anchor Book
• D. Assonance

Answer: (A)

Decoding is the process of turning printed letters into spoken sounds by applying knowledge of letter-sound relationships. When you encounter a word, you pronounce each letter or digraph and then blend the sounds together to say the word. This is exactly what “sounding out” means—using phonics to map letters to sounds and then blend to form the spoken word. It’s a fundamental skill readers use to figure out unfamiliar words. The other terms describe different ideas: bottom-up is a broader reading approach that starts with units of sound but isn’t itself the act of sounding out; an anchor book is simply a reference text; and assonance is a literary device involving repeated vowel sounds, not decoding.