Mind What Teachers Say: Kindergarten Teachers’ Use of Mental State Language During Picture Story Narration

The study focuses on the mental state language kindergarten teachers use when narrating picture stories. The aims were to examine (a) individual differences in the frequency with which kindergarten teachers use mental state terms, (b) the types of mental state terms (e.g., emotion, desire, belief terms) teachers use most frequently, and (c) the effect that the content of the story to be narrated has on teachers’ use of mental state language. A total of 38 kindergarten teachers took part in the study. Participants were asked to narrate a familiar picture story and six short illustrated stories that fell into one of two categories: behavioral or mentalistic. Behavioral stories emphasized the story characters’ actions, whereas mentalistic stories emphasized the story characters’ mental states. Research Findings: The results showed a significant variation in kindergarten teachers’ use of mental state terms. Moreover, teachers used significantly more cognitive state terms than terms expressing other mental states (e.g., emotions and desires). The content of the picture story (behavioral, mentalistic) was not found to have an effect on teachers’ use of mental state language. Practice or Policy: Implications of these findings for educators are discussed.