Navigating the shift from language instructor to instructional designer: How foreign language pedagogy can adapt in the age of e-learning

We propose a communicative, learner-centered blended learning model for language teaching in response to school closures and the necessity of remote education for the foreseeable future (March, 2020). This model facilitates communicative language practice entirely in the target language from the beginner-level using synchronous video chat, along with varied asynchronous digital resources and language apps that target foreign language (L2) oral proficiency. To develop learners' communicative competence, particularly listening and speaking skills, language instructors embrace principles used by instructional designers. Prior to synchronous online sessions in small groups or 1:1, instructors create, curate, and assign relevant material students work on autonomously. By "flipping the classroom" in this way, learners access resources like app-based language lessons, digital exercises, vocabulary games, and authentic content at their own pace, instructors can devote valuable (virtual) classroom time to communicative practice, task-based activities, and discussions. These insights emerge from two Italian language instructors' experiences using the language app Babbel (Lesson Nine GmbH, Babbel (Version 20.59.0) [Mobile application]. Retrieved from App Store: https://apps.apple.com/de/app/babbel-sprachen-lernen/id829587759, 2020) along with self-created digital resources as the syllabus for beginner-level Italian classes for university students. This approach, however, can be flexibly adapted in diverse contexts using the multitude of low-cost or free language learning tools and resources available online.