Which task would best assess a student's phonemic segmentation ability?

Phonemic segmentation refers to the ability to recognize and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) in a word. The task that best assesses this ability would involve focusing on the individual phonemes that make up a word and breaking it down into its constituent sounds.

Identifying the final sound in a word is a direct assessment of a student’s ability to distinguish and isolate the specific phoneme that occurs at the end of a word. This task requires the student to actively think about and articulate the individual sounds within the word, demonstrating their understanding of phonemic structure.

In contrast, tasks like rhyming words, clapping for syllables, or spelling words aloud primarily evaluate different skills. Rhyming addresses phonological awareness—recognizing similar sounds rather than manipulating them. Clapping for syllables breaks words down into larger sound units (syllables) instead of focusing specifically on the individual phonemes. Spelling a word aloud tests a student’s knowledge of letter-sound correspondence rather than their ability to segment sounds. Thus, identifying the final sound provides a clear, focused measure of phonemic segmentation.