Which developmental phase includes recognizing word meanings and their associations with other words?

The correct choice highlights the importance of understanding word meanings along with their relationships to other words, which is essential in the semantic processing phase. Semantic processing involves grasping the meanings of individual words and how they interrelate within language. This phase is crucial for building vocabulary and comprehending text, as it allows learners to connect words to broader concepts, synonyms, antonyms, and contextual usage.

Orthographic processing primarily focuses on the recognition of written words and letters, while syntactic processing deals with the structure of sentences and the rules governing word order. Discourse processing involves understanding and interpreting larger units of language, such as paragraphs or entire texts. While all these processing phases are important for literacy development, it is semantic processing that specifically addresses the recognition of word meanings and their associations with other words, making it the correct answer in this context.