Semantic and phonological associative norms of 145 French words for children aged 5–9 years: Free associations and forced-choice task

This study aimed to establish normative data for 145 words using phonological and semantic association tasks with 242 French schoolchildren, ranging from ages 5 (Grande Section) to 8 (Cours Elémentaire 2), providing a fundamental resource for future research and educational planning. The participants were engaged in two primary tasks: a free association task, entailing image recognition followed by phonological or semantic word association and a forced-choice task, involving choosing semantically or phonologically related images from options. Overall, there were more associations produced for semantic associations than phonological ones; however, there was a greater variety of phonological associations than semantic ones. We found that 5-year-old children performed better in semantic tasks by choosing expected associates compared to phonological tasks. However, this difference was not present in older children. This suggests that phonological networks develop more gradually than semantic ones, with phonological awareness continuing to improve with age while semantic stability is reached earlier. The established norms offer a framework for educators, clinicians, and researchers in understanding and assessing the semantic and phonological associative strategy of children in early educational settings within the French context.