Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) Unit 2 Practice Test 2025 - Free LETRS Practice Questions and Study Guide

The correct answer is phoneme substitution. This type of error specifically involves replacing one phoneme with another, often resulting in a new word. For example, if a student says "bat" instead of "pat," they have substituted the initial phoneme /b/ for /p/.

Understanding phoneme substitution is crucial for identifying specific reading difficulties that children might face. By recognizing that a child is interchanging sounds, teachers can provide targeted phonemic awareness instruction, helping students to distinguish and manipulate sounds more effectively, which supports their overall reading skills.

Phoneme deletion involves leaving out a phoneme from a word, which is a different kind of error. Phoneme addition occurs when an extra sound is added to a word, while phoneme blending involves combining individual phonemes to form a word. While all these concepts relate to phonemic awareness, they represent distinct processes, further clarifying that phoneme substitution is the precise term for the interchanging of sounds between two phonemes.