Pragmatics and Theory of Mind across cultures

In this article, I present a cultural framing of pragmatic communication for understanding children's developing understanding of their own and others' minds. Taking a social constructivist approach, I reexamine evidence for the socialization of mental state understanding from a pragmatic standpoint. I pay particular attention to how cultural variation in caregivers' use of mental state language may reflect variation in pragmatic intentions that correspond with culturally framed socialization practices. I then consider how variation in the socialization of pragmatic intentions informs our understanding of culture-specific differences in theory of mind development. I conclude by suggesting that in diversifying the ways in which we think about communication and its role in making sense of the social world, we can begin to better understand the significance of children's cultural context in this development.This article is part of the theme issue 'At the heart of human communication: new views on the complex relationship between pragmatics and Theory of Mind'.