ABSTRACT
Michael Chung i+s four years old. He goes to playgroup four mornings a week. At home his family speak Cantonese and English and Michael is fluent in both languages. One morning Michael arrives at playgroup. He takes off his coat and hangs it on his peg. He greets all the adults and heads straight for the home corner. He selects a doll, carefully undresses the doll and then places the doll in a plastic bucket of water in order to bath her. He holds the doll in one arm whilst he pretends to squeeze shampoo from an empty bottle on the doll’s head. He rubs the head gently, using one hand to shield the doll’s eyes and all the time he talks to the doll in a crooning voice, saying things like ‘Don’t cry. It will be all right. It will be nice and clean’. When he is satisfied that the doll is clean he lifts her out of the water, wraps her in a towel and starts to dress her. First he puts on a disposable nappy, then a vest, then a’babygro’. That done, he picks up an empty feeding bottle and begins to feed the baby, this time singing to her. Finally, he puts the doll on his shoulder, pats her back and puts her down in a box which serves as a cot. Then he leaves the home corner, and goes over to a table where writing materials have been set out. He selects a blank booklet and begins to make marks on the pages, working from the front of the booklet to the back. Finally he takes a pencil and carefully writes his name on the front of the booklet and places it in the pocket of his coat to take home.
