Which term describes using knowledge about graphophonemic relations to sound out regular words?

• A. Decoding
• B. Ciphering
• C. Extrinsic Phonics
• D. Cloze

Answer: (B)

Decoding is the process of using knowledge about grapheme-phoneme relationships to pronounce written words. When you read a regular word you map each letter or letter cluster to its sounds and blend them together to say the word aloud. This relies on phonics and the idea that letters (graphemes) correspond to sounds (phonemes). So sounding out unfamiliar words by applying these letter-sound rules is decoding.

The other terms don’t fit this specific skill. Ciphering is more about encrypting or encoding messages than reading aloud from print. Extrinsic phonics isn’t a standard label for this decoding process. Cloze involves filling in missing words using context and grammar, not using letter-to-sound relationships to pronounce words.