Final answer:
Phonemic awareness is the set of skills that develop in children before they start formal reading instruction, enabling them to hear and manipulate the smallest units of sound in a language.
Step-by-step explanation:
The set of skills that develop before children begin formal reading instruction is referred to as phonemic awareness. This foundational skill is critical as it encompasses a child's ability to hear, identify, and manipulate phonemes, which are the smallest units of sound that can differentiate meaning. Phonemic awareness helps children recognize the sounds of spoken language, contributing to their ability to learn to read and write. Long before children start school or receive formal instruction, their language development begins. This development includes recognizing phonemes, a skill that initially allows them to distinguish between the sounds of all human languages but eventually narrows to the specific sounds used in their environment.
Children develop language acquisition skills early on, and this process occurs naturally, often without formal teaching. They begin to comprehend and respond to language through gestures and can recognize their mother's voice or discriminate between different languages at a very young age. Understanding phonemes and recognizing patterns in speech are the precursors to more advanced language skills like reading and writing, which are further developed through schooling and direct instruction.