Navigating ‘Street Markets’ and ‘Wet Goods’: A Study on Contextualised Teaching in the ‘Practical Writing’ Unit of Junior Secondary Chinese Language Education

Chan Man-hin  [Hong Kong]

Abstract

The teaching of ‘Practical Writing’ in Hong Kong's Chinese Language curriculum has long faced challenges characterised by writing for its own sake, detachment from real-world contexts, and low student engagement. This paper proposes and implements a practical writing teaching model for junior secondary students that is deeply embedded within local Hong Kong life contexts. This teaching case centres on the core project of ‘Proposing Upgrades for Community Wet Markets’. It guides students through field observations, vendor interviews, and needs assessments to complete a sequence of practical writing tasks with authentic audiences and purposes. These include drafting a ‘Letter of Recommendation to District Council Members’, designing a ‘Wet Market Stall Rental Advertisement’, and creating promotional copy for ‘Revitalising Traditional Wet Markets’. The case extends writing instruction from the classroom to the community, integrating language's instrumental and humanistic dimensions with community engagement. Practice demonstrates that this life-based contextual teaching significantly enhances students' writing motivation, reader awareness, functional register mastery, and identification with community culture, providing a concrete and feasible pathway for practical writing teaching reform in Hong Kong's Chinese Language curriculum.

Keywords: Practical writing; Life-based context; Market culture; Project-based learning; Reader awareness; Chinese Language subject; Hong Kong secondary schools

Introduction

Within Hong Kong's secondary Chinese Language curriculum, ‘functional writing’ occupies a substantial place, aiming to cultivate students' ability to use language for practical purposes. However, actual teaching often becomes mired in formulaic practices: teachers explain template formats, students practise imitating letters, notices, reports, etc., with topics frequently hypothetical (e.g., ‘Write a letter to the headteacher suggesting additional extracurricular clubs’), readers abstract, and purposes unclear. This disconnect from authentic contexts and practical needs leads pupils to perceive functional writing as tedious form-filling, hindering their grasp of its essential role in navigating daily life and communicating information. Developing civic engagement awareness becomes even more elusive. Hong Kong, a highly urbanised yet distinctly localised international metropolis, possesses rich linguistic learning resources within its community settings—public housing estates, wet markets, cafés, and community halls. Particularly, wet markets – repositories of collective civic memory and the pulse of daily life – now face challenges from supermarket competition, e-commerce disruption, and urban renewal. Their preservation and revitalisation are subjects of intense public debate. This presents an exceptional authentic context for language teaching, especially practical writing instruction. This study, grounded in ‘Situated Learning Theory’ and ‘Task-Based Language Teaching’, designs a practical writing teaching unit centred on the core project of ‘wet market revitalisation’. The unit embeds writing tasks within the authentic process of exploring community issues, enabling students to ‘write for authenticity and purpose’. It aims to explore an effective pathway connecting language learning with community life, enhancing students' comprehensive language literacy and local engagement.

I. Contextual Background and Theoretical Framework of the Teaching Case Design

1. Content Analysis: Aligned with the ‘Practical Writing’ category within the Chinese Language curriculum for junior secondary schools, focusing on letter-writing, notices, and promotional texts. Emphasis is placed on format, terminology, audience, and purpose.

2. Student Profile Analysis: Secondary students (using Year 8 as an example) possess foundational writing skills but find formulaic practical writing tedious. While familiar with market environments, they lack systematic observation and experience engaging with community affairs through textual means.

3. Theoretical Framework: Situated Learning Theory, Task-Based Language Teaching, Project-Based Learning, Localised Education.

II. Implementation Process (Three-Week Programme)

Phase One: Contextual Activation and Task Launch (1 lesson period)

1. Contextual Introduction: Screen excerpts from the documentary Hong Kong Market Scenes, showcasing the vibrancy and challenges faced by wet markets. Present the news article ‘XX Market Proposed for Redevelopment: Stallholders' Future in Focus’ to spark discussion: What does the wet market mean to you? Should it disappear?

2. Project Launch: The teacher, assuming the role of ‘Community Language Planner,’ announces the overarching task: ‘Contribute your wisdom to the upgrading and renovation of our local community market (using the nearby “Lok Fu Market” as a virtual or real subject). Use your words to help it rejuvenate.’

3. Task Breakdown:

Task One (Proposal Letter): Conduct thorough research and draft a reasoned proposal letter to Kowloon City District Council members, outlining specific upgrade plans for the market.

Task Two (Tenancy Advertisement): Design an advertisement for distinctive stalls in the renovated market that attracts new tenants while preserving its unique character.

Task Three (Promotional Copy): Create a set of promotional materials (including short texts, slogans, etc.) for social media or community noticeboards titled ‘Revitalising Lok Fu Market’.

Phase Two: Field Research and Data Collection (Extracurricular + 1 Lesson Period)

1. Methodology Guidance: Teachers instruct research methods, including: observational notes (environment, merchandise, footfall, distinctive features); interview outline design (for stallholders: operational challenges, renovation expectations); resource collection (archival photographs, relevant press coverage).

2. Field Activities: Student groups utilise free time to conduct targeted observations and brief interviews (audio/written records permitted) at the target market, ensuring safety precautions.

3. Data Organisation and Classroom Sharing: Groups collate findings, sharing ‘market keywords’ (e.g., ‘human touch,’ ‘ventilation,’ ‘electronic payments,’ ‘young people’) in class and synthesising core conflicts and needs.

Phase Three: Writing Workshop and Output Creation (4-5 lessons) This phase employs a cyclical approach for three tasks: ‘model essay analysis – key point deconstruction – group co-creation – peer review and revision.’

1. Proposal Letter Workshop:

Analyse exemplary proposal letters, deconstructing their components: purpose, specific recommendations (bullet-pointed), rationale and evidence (linked to research findings), and courteous language.

2. Group discussion: Based on research, what are 1-2 core recommendations we most wish to propose? (e.g., establishing a local produce direct-sales zone, improving drainage systems, introducing cultural and creative stalls). How should justifications be structured? (Incorporate stallholders' direct quotes or observed phenomena).

3. Individual drafting followed by peer review within groups (focusing on feasibility of proposals, sufficiency of reasoning, and appropriateness of formal register).

Tenancy Advertisement Workshop:

Analyse diverse advertisement formats (e.g., government tender notices, shopping centre leasing promotions), comparing linguistic styles and functional priorities.

Focus on ‘distinctiveness’: How to highlight the market's advantages through wording (e.g., location, community atmosphere, policy support)? How to describe expectations for ideal tenants (e.g., welcoming stallholders selling organic produce, handicrafts, traditional snacks)?

 Design creation: Requires integration of text and visuals with clear, appealing formatting.

Promotional Copywriting Workshop:

1. Analyse exemplary urban renewal and cultural preservation campaigns to learn how concise, vivid, and compelling language conveys narratives and values.

2. Define promotional angle and tone: emphasise ‘nostalgic charm,’ ‘novel experiences,’ or ‘community symbiosis’?

3. Creative writing: craft a promotional slogan, a short article (simulating Facebook page content), and a radio script.

Phase Four: Presentation, Evaluation and Extension (2 lessons)

1. Presentation Session: Simulate a ‘Community Consultation Meeting’ where each group showcases their three textual outputs. Invite subject teachers or parent representatives to play roles such as ‘District Councillor,’ ‘Market Management Representative,’ or ‘Potential Tenant’ for evaluation and questioning.

2. Reflection and Extension: Students reflect on new insights gained regarding language application throughout the project. Outstanding letters of recommendation may be genuinely sent to district councillors after guidance. Promotional copy may be published on school platforms.

III. Analysis and Reflection on Teaching Outcomes Analysis of students' process-based materials, final textual outputs, reflective journals, and pre/post-assessment questionnaires indicates significant achievements:

1. Fundamental shift in writing motivation: Students universally reported ‘knowing who to write for and why made it highly engaging’. Writing evolved from a mere ‘assignment’ into a ‘meaningful endeavour’.

2. Integrated application of language skills: Students flexibly adapted stylistic registers across tasks: the formal earnestness of recommendation letters, the clarity of announcements, and the lively vibrancy of promotional copy. Reader awareness reached unprecedented levels, with students consciously considering audience identity and perspectives during composition.

3. Deepened appreciation of community culture: The research process enabled students to ‘rediscover’ their local wet market. One student reflected: ‘I used to dislike the dampness and noise of the market. But after interviewing the grandmother who's sold vegetables for thirty years, I felt I understood the vitality within those cries. My writing seeks to find an outlet for that vitality.’

4. Challenges and Reflections: Firstly, this demands high standards of teachers' curriculum design and interdisciplinary coordination skills, requiring potential linkages with subjects like Citizenship and Social Development and Integrated Humanities. Secondly, field research involves safety considerations and time management, necessitating meticulous planning and parental support. Finally, assessment must shift from single-text evaluation to formative and performance-based evaluation, focusing on students' performance in inquiry, collaboration, creativity, and other areas.

Conclusion

By establishing the authentic, concrete, and locally relevant context of ‘market revitalisation,’ this case elevates practical writing instruction in junior secondary education from formulaic drills to language-based problem-solving activities. It demonstrates that when writing is intrinsically linked to students' lived experiences and community engagement, language learning naturally generates powerful intrinsic motivation and comprehensive educational value. This pedagogical approach not only effectively enhances students' practical writing skills but also cultivates their observational abilities, empathy, critical thinking, and civic responsibility. It vividly embodies the Hong Kong Chinese Language curriculum's objectives of ‘broadening the language learning environment’ and ‘connecting with life, emphasising application.’ Future exploration could extend this model to other genres (such as report writing and news writing) and further develop school-based community-oriented language learning resources.

References

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