Why is phonemic awareness tied up with phonics when it is a totally different construct? Does combining the two indicate that they are the same construct?

No. The construct of phonemic awareness is based on being able to focus on and manipulate sounds in spoken words and does not need to be linked to phonics (grapheme/phoneme relationships), as it can be taught without the use of letters or words. Whereas, phonics is underpinned by the alphabet using the alphabetic principle, where students need to recognize and name letters (upper and lowercase) and know that the sounds of spoken words can be represented by letters (or combination of letters) for reading and writing” (John Hattie, personal communication, July 13, 2017).