The Relationship between Evidentiality Development and Theory of Mind in School-Aged Children

Objectives: The present study examined Korean school-aged children's comprehension of evidential markers (-ne(-eo), -dae(-rae), -geot gatda) and whether the development of theory of mind (ToM) contributes to evidential marker understanding. For the development of evidentiality, it is necessary to comprehend how one acquired the information he or she understood, including the information transmitted from others. Methods: Seventy-two typically developing Korean children (2nd, 4th, and 6th grade) participated in this study. The children's comprehension of three evidentiality marking tasks (direct experience, indirect experience, and indirect inference) was tested using pictures and test sheets. The four types of ToM were measured using listening comprehension tasks. Results: There were significant differences between the 2nd and 4nd, and 2nd and 6th grades in the comprehension of indirect experience and indirect inference markers. But there were not significant grade differences in the comprehension of direct experience markers. The development of ToM according to grade was statistically significant in all groups. Development of ToM showed positive correlations with indirect experience markers, indirect inference markers, and the total scores of evidential markers except for direct experience markers. Conclusion: These results indicate that the development of ToM and grammatical markers is useful for assessment and intervention concerning the language ability of school-age children.