What best describes the purpose of teaching grapheme-phoneme correspondences?

Teaching grapheme-phoneme correspondences is fundamental for strengthening decoding and blending skills in reading. Grapheme-phoneme correspondences refer to the relationships between written letters (graphemes) and their associated sounds (phonemes). By understanding these relationships, students can decode words, which involves translating written letters into their corresponding sounds to accurately read words.

This skill is essential for reading because it allows learners to sound out unfamiliar words, building their ability to read independently. Additionally, as students practice blending phonemes together to form words, they further reinforce their understanding of how sounds work together in the context of language. This foundational knowledge is critical to becoming proficient readers, as it directly influences their ability to recognize words fluently and comprehend text. The other choices, while related to aspects of literacy, do not specifically focus on the core purpose of teaching these vital correspondences.