Implications from a questionnaire survey for use of the honorific title for animals: Why do kindergarten teachers call animals “~ san”?

Abstract

Kindergarten teachers to support interactions between children and animals often use honorific titles such as “san,” “kun,” and “chan” to refer to animals. The results of a questionnaire survey of 83 teachers showed that honorific expressions were used in 60.5% of the three types of interaction situations between children and eight different types of animals. The frequency to use of honorific expressions was higher in situations in which the child was playing nicely with the animal and in situations in which the child was bullying the animal than in situations in which the child was interested in the animal’s ecology. In terms of the aim of using honorific expressions, teachers were aware of the development of children’s respects, feelings of friendliness, and feelings of compassion for organisms.