The purpose of this ethnographic study was to gain an in-depth understanding of compliments given to
kindergarten children in Korean by teachers and other children, through an examination of the objects and
consequent functions of those compliments. The participants were 22 children and 1 teacher from
Kindergarten U located in the city of G in South Korea. This study was conducted between March 29,
2012 and January 11, 2013. According to the results, first, the objects of compliments initiated by
kindergarten children were “the self,” “a friend,” “the teacher or another adult,” and “a thing or item,”
while and the objects of compliments initiated by teachers were “a child (to that child),” “a child (to
other children),” and “a child (to other adults).” Second, the functions of compliments initiated by
kindergarten children were “strategy for making friends,” “attempt at self‐justification,” “role-playing in a
pretend play,” and “applying the logic of power,” while the functions of compliments initiated by teachers
were “strategy for eliciting behavioral change,” “explaining and clarifying thoughts,” “inducer for drawing
out other stories,” “putting an end to an activity,” “intervention to improve a negative mood,” and
“two-faced compliments.” These study results showed that compliments directed toward children had both
positive and negative aspects, suggesting that caution should be taken when complimenting children in
order to ensure positive interaction.