Which of the following is NOT a focus of phonemic awareness?

Phonemic awareness primarily focuses on the auditory processing of sounds in spoken language. This includes skills such as manipulating, identifying, and recognizing sounds in words, which are critical for developing reading skills. Manipulating sounds involves changing, adding, or deleting sounds to create new words, while identifying sound units, such as phonemes, is a key component of understanding how words are constructed. Recognizing rhyming patterns also falls under phonemic awareness, as it requires individuals to hear and compare sounds at the end of words.

In contrast, understanding the meaning of words encompasses a broader vocabulary and comprehension skill set that goes beyond the scope of phonemic awareness, which is concerned only with sounds rather than their meanings. Therefore, identifying this option as not a focus of phonemic awareness is accurate, as it highlights the distinction between sound manipulation and the semantic understanding of language.