Child Observation - Cognitive Language

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I observed a 6 years old girl. Both of her parents are Chinese but she was born and raised in America. She is quite small and skinny for her age. She has one brother who is 4 years older and one sister who is 2 years old than her. The observation took place in the living room of her house on Sunday when she just got back from going shopping with her mom. I got her mom permission to be in her house and wait for them to get back. During this observation, she was just playing around the house, doing daily activities and interacting with her family members. She was told to speak a Chinese dialect, Cantonese when she is home. However, she not only speaks English at any other places but she also speaks English to her siblings. It seems like she is more comfortable with speak English than her first language, Cantonese. She was taught to speak Cantonese by talking with parents but learnt English from television and her older siblings. She is bilingual simultaneously [lecture slide 14-15 “developing 2 languages at once”]. She asked her mom for more aloe vera juice but she is confused with two different languages. Half of the word choice is English and the other half is Cantonese in the English sentence structure. This is an evident of code switching [lecture slide 14-15 “developing 2 languages at once”] In the same sentences where she asked for aloe juice, she is the Cantonese word for “snow” to describe it. For her, “snow snow” is the name for little aloe pieces in the juice because they are small and white or transparent. This is an evidence of assimilation in cognitive development [lecture slide 10-11 “more on adaptation”]. I asked her mom later the know that she and her husband never actually correct her that the juice’s name is not “snow snow”. Because of this, she never has a chance to change her to change her scheme and adapt [lecture slide 10-11 “Adaptation:

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