What term describes long-term memory for grammar and phonological rules?

The term that describes long-term memory for grammar and phonological rules is linguistic competence. This concept encompasses an individual's implicit knowledge of their language's structure, including syntax (grammar rules) and phonology (the sounds and sound patterns of the language). Linguistic competence allows speakers to understand and produce sentences that they may have never encountered before, relying on their internalized rules of language.

This understanding is distinct from the other concepts. Verbal fluency refers to the ease and speed with which a person can produce language, but does not specifically relate to the underlying rules of grammar or phonology. Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate sounds in spoken words, which is more focused on the phonetic aspects rather than the broader grammatical rules. Speech perception pertains to the process of interpreting and understanding spoken language, again not specifically tied to the long-term rules of grammar and phonology. Thus, linguistic competence accurately encapsulates the idea of long-term storage of these critical language components.