[Vocabulary] being able to break down the actual sounds

[englishhobby]

I heard this from a teacher on Futurelearn.com talking about teaching English to little kids. Then I tried and failed to find the dictionary meaning of "break down (a sound)". What does she mean? (She also menttioned "focusing on the vocabulary" as another activity they teach kids to do.) Does it mean "to pronounce" or "to split" (for example, diphthongs consisting of two elements)?

 

[GoesStation]

What was the complete sentence?

 

[jutfrank]

You've apparently forgotten exactly what she said.

I'd guess she was talking about breaking words down into their individual sounds.

 

[englishhobby]

What was the complete sentence?

 

[englishhobby]

You've apparently forgotten exactly what she said.

I'd guess she was talking about breaking words down into their individual sounds.

 

[jutfrank]

That context doesn't help.

The opening sentence does not seem related to the rest of the paragraph. It seems like it's a response to a question or something. Why does she mention sounds?

 

[englishhobby]

That context doesn't help.

The opening sentence does not seem related to the rest of the paragraph. It seems like it's a response to a question or something. Why does she mention sounds?

The video is designed in this way. Even so, she is talking about the skills that children must have, as far as I understand. But I can't imagine any context from which it would be clear why children (or anyone at all) have to be able to "break down the sounds", that's why I asked about it in the first place. (My first thought was that, perhaps, "to break down a sound" means "to pronounce the sound" in some slang, but now I see I was wrong).