THE EFFECTS OF TEACHERS’ VERBAL BEHAVIORS ON KINDERGARTNERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF COMPETENCE tracy a. simonson and william strein

The purpose of this study was to examine changes in kindergartners’ perceptions of competence and to determine the effects of teachers’ verbal behaviors on these perceptions. A sample of 168 kindergartners from 31 classrooms participated in a preand posttest administration of the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance and three classroom observations. Kindergartners in this study generally reported high perceptions of competence. The drop in perceptions documented in previous research was not found in this study, suggesting that the developmental change occurs after kindergarten. A modest significant correlation between perceptions of competence and both academic skills and teacher ratings indicated that children were developing more accurate judgements. Teachers’ verbal behaviors were not related to students’ perceptions of competence. In contrast, the amount of praise that students received was related to the instructional style of the teacher and the frequency in which students were criticized was related to their academic skills. Implications for educational practice are discussed. q 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.