"aber das WAR AUCH n bisschen SCHÖN bei dem traum". Exemplarische Studie zum Sprechen über inneres Erleben in Gesprächskreisen des Kindergartens

This paper stems from a larger research project that analyses a specific format of conversation circles in a German kindergarten with respect to its capacity to promote aspects of societal participation as well as language development. We present a case study of problem-solving strategies among preschoolers (6 years) in conversation circles that took place regularly in this kindergarten. We focus on children's ability to speak about inner psychological experience (emotion, volition, cognition). This ability is a very essential in the field of interpersonal communication. It presupposes that a child can perceive and reflect on his own inner experience and that of other persons. Having laid out our theoretical starting points as well as the current research, we shall introduce our data, an excerpt from a conversation circle about a girl's desire, for which the group is looking for solutions. Methodologically we employ a conversation analytic framework. Subsequently, the occurring linguistic terms for inner psychological experience (inner state terms) are listed, categorized and interpreted. It turns out that professionals and children have a variety of verbal, paraverbal, and nonverbal resources at their disposal to talk about inner state. Many formulations refer to the areas of emotion/ affect and evaluation/ graduation. The participants refer to each other in their utterances and adopt terms of inner experience from each other. Through such an empathic conversation dynamic and supported by the professionals, children can acquire the ability to talk about inner experience in a context-appropriate way.