Mississippi Foundations of Reading Practice Test 2025 - Free Reading Practice Questions and Study Guide

The correct term for rearranging and substituting phonemes to create new words is phonemic substitution. This process allows learners to manipulate sounds and understand how changing one phoneme can result in a completely different word, like turning "cat" into "hat" by changing the initial sound.

Phoneme awareness refers to the ability to recognize and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. While this concept is related, it does not specifically highlight the active process of creating new words through substitution and rearrangement.

Phonology is the study of sounds in a particular language, including how they function and are organized. It encompasses a broader range than just the manipulation of phonemes to form new words.

Phonological processing involves the ability to use and understand the sound structure of language. This includes skills like recognizing rhymes and syllables, but again, it is not limited to the specific manipulation of phonemes to create new words.

Recognizing these distinctions helps clarify why phonemic substitution is the accurate answer to the question at hand.