Final answer:
A child with phonological awareness can identify, differentiate, and manipulate sounds at various language levels. This skill set evolves from infancy throughout early childhood and is foundational for reading and writing. However, children with dyslexia may face challenges in phonological processing that can impact their language acquisition.
Step-by-step explanation:
A child who has phonological awareness can indeed identify and manipulate sounds in many different levels of language. Phonological awareness is a critical foundational skill in learning to read and encompass a variety of abilities, such as distinguishing between different sounds in a language and understanding that words can be broken down into syllables and smaller sound units known as phonemes. For example, a child with good phonological awareness can recognize that the word 'cat' is made up of three sounds /k/, /æ/, and /t/ and can manipulate these sounds to create new words, such as changing /k/ to /h/ to form 'hat'.
Early on, babies begin to develop the skills needed for language acquisition, distinguishing between phonemes of all human languages. However, as they grow, they specialize in the phonemes of their native language(s). This discernment advances as children continue to grow. By ages one to two, toddlers use words and understand commands, and their vocabulary quickly expands. By the time they reach five years old, children have a much larger vocabulary and can engage in more complex language utilization, such as understanding jokes and sorting objects based on different attributes.
Children with dyslexia, however, may struggle with sound-letter correspondence, which is a key component of phonological awareness. This can make learning to read and write exceptionally challenging for them. Nonetheless, with appropriate educational strategies and support, children with dyslexia can improve their phonological skills and become proficient readers and writers.