1.

The question that our team prepared before the meeting

Name Question

Qianyu Speaking is the only skill that we will test in the placement task and it is only
one component of the students’ competencies. However, in our future
classes, we might teach the four English language skills: Reading, Writing,
Speaking, and Listening. Therefore, is it better to test all the four skills in
placement tasks so that the students’ proficiency level can fit with the future
teaching content by the largest possibility?

Katherine - Regarding Nation’s four strands, how is each portion expected to be

balanced or addressed during teaching?
- As most PEDAL teachers are not native English speakers, should
PEDAL supervisors/founders arrive at some consensus about
whether PEDAL teachers should have the necessary linguistic
competence to teach through the medium of their L2, or whether
there is a difference between general English proficiency and the
competence to teach English as academic subjects?
- Might the effectiveness of teaching and learning be reduced when
proficiency in English, on both parts of PEDAL teachers and
students, is not particularly high?

Lillian - Are there any recommended teaching techniques that instructors

can effectively apply to enhance student engagement in this
semester's in-person classes at PEDAL, given the shift from online
to in-person instruction?
- Has the PEDAL program ever considered implementing sub-levels,
such as Level 2-1, and Level 2-2 class within the existing levels to
enhance specificity and reliability in student placement?

Sitong - When you found the program, have you encountered any
challenges? Maybe from the social, economic, or even political
perspective?
- What’s the most common problems that students and teachers
encountered in the past?
- What can we do more to engage in the PEDAL community?
Teachers’ mission?
- How has PEDAL changed as a community?

Beryl -How do you think about Pedal’s goal and our mission over the time?
As student observing in the class…
As teacher teach and engage in the community…
As coordinator and worked in PEDAL…
-What are the essential needs and motivation of our teaching community?
-The previous Pedal teachers for our class told us that their proficiency in fact
changes within a huge range, some of them are struggling with the alphabet, but
some can speak fluently. What strategy should be used to ensure all students
 benefit from the same class?
-An and Elliott told us there are many Chinese students in our class, can we use
Chinese to facilitate our teaching?
-Should we give students homework?(traditional way of assignments or
experiential one like ordering sth, then share experience at nest class)

Hailey - Do we have an online platform where we can share materials or

resources with students? If we don't, can we create our own?
- Considering the ways to promote multilingual communication in the
class (agenda)
- The way to conduct needs analysis in the class
- How do we conduct placement test with students who can’t make it
to the first class

Mona - What suggestions would you give us to meet the essential needs of
our students and maintain their motivation?
- Other than exit tickets, how can we help our students review the
class and prepare for the next class? Do you have any
suggestions?
- For PEDAL level 1 in-person curriculum design, are we designing
the curriculum based on general level 1 students, or for our specific
group? Since this curriculum was created for future use, and yet,
specific groups may have different topics and focuses

2. The interview questions that were mainly discussed

1. How do you think the goal and mission of PEDAL changed over time from different

stakeholders’ perspectives?

a. At the very beginning, PEDAL was founded to help the UPenn family members.

As progressed, PEDAL developed two different departments targeting

community members and family members. Nonetheless, the main mission of the

program remains the same throughout its progress, helping students to improve

their communication and interpersonal skills so that students can better be

integrated into the local society. Except for the pandemic period, daily interaction

took place in face-to-face situations. According to the supervisor, the curriculum

during the pandemic period was distinct from the curriculum that was mainly

used in regular periods.

 2. What are the most common problems that students and teachers encountered in the

past?

a. The most common obstacle that PEDAL has encountered is attendance. There is

a commonly found tendency for students to drop out of the class throughout the

term. One of the main causes that the supervisor believes is the curriculum and

the syllabus. In the past years, PEDAL does not have a set curriculum or

syllabus to follow, even though PEDAL focuses more on the function, there is still

an inconsistency among lessons and periods.

3. The potential project for PEDAL

One of the potential projects that were mainly discussed during the interview was the

curriculum design. Based on students’ language proficiency level, we could develop a more

well-rounded and logical curriculum with creative and practical topics. To begin with, the

curriculum would vary not only based on the proficiency level but also on the way the teaching

was conducted. In-person and online classes may have different target students and student

groups. That is, it is important to consider their background and the technology they use to

facilitate our teaching and curriculum design. Moreover, the content and the topic of the

curriculum should be carefully chosen. For instance, the content for level 1 students should be

lexical-focused instead of grammar-focused. Teachers could choose harder and more

complicated vocabulary but simpler grammar points for the students so that they will feel

challenged but at the same time feel at ease. In other words, the difficulties of the class should

be appropriate for students’ language proficiency level. Lastly, the sequence of the topic should

be designed and arranged in a logical manner. With a sequenced curriculum, it is easier for

students to experience and notice their improvement, which may implicitly solve the attendance

problem.
 4. Personal Takeaways from CBLP Interview and Other Potential Project

4.1 Takeaways from the Interview Questions

One common feature that could be found among our team members’ interview questions

is that we tend to focus more on teaching strategies and lesson planning instead of investigating

learners’ needs in the community or the needs for PEDAL. In my opinion, we tend to approach

this project from a teacher-centered perspective rather than recognizing ourselves as members

of a community.

4.2 Takeaways from the Answered Interview Question

I understand that the overall goal of the PEDAL project remains the same, which is to

provide classes that help improve students' communication and interpersonal skills. However,

the objectives and methods of the classes may differ depending on the level of the students and

the approach taken in the classroom. For instance, lower-level classes usually concentrate on

subjects associated with students' everyday experiences, like purchasing groceries, whereas

advanced courses may explore more intricate themes that are not related to daily routines.

Regarding the issue of inconsistent attendance, it appears that two factors are at play.

Firstly, as we discussed during the interview, the lack of a well-structured curriculum may be

contributing to the problem. When students are presented with a disorganized syllabus and

curriculum, they tend to lose their interest and they become demotivated. Additionally, the

volunteer-based classes may also be a factor. Without a financial investment, students may feel

less obligated to attend, which could lead to a higher dropout rate or lower attendance. While

teachers can work to develop a more cohesive curriculum that keeps students engaged, it may

be difficult to improve accountability given the voluntary nature of the classes.

4.3 Other Potential Projects for PEDAL

Other than designing a well-structured curriculum, as teachers, we would also

concentrate on developing teaching quality and consistency in PEDAL. To achieve this, we

could create a teachers' handbook that offers general guidelines and solutions to common

problems that may arise during teaching. The handbook could provide suggestions for lesson

planning, ways to improve attendance, and guidelines for class topics and grammar. For

instance, we can include students' favorite and most interesting topics based on our interest

form and grammar points that are suitable for different levels. Unlike a rigid curriculum, a

handbook offers more flexibility in teaching and provides a robust foundation for teachers to

tackle potential issues that may arise.