A Sequential Case Study on Advising in Language Learning From the Emergency Remote Setup to the Transition to the New Normal

Advising in Language Learning (ALL) was implemented as a two-phase, sequential case study in a foreign language department at a state university in the Philippines. The first phase, piloted at the height of the pandemic in 2020, aimed to utilize advising as a means of psychosocial intervention for first-time self-access learners. It served as a form of action research to respond to the needs of students who had to navigate language learning despite the harsh external conditions brought about by the pandemic. The second phase was implemented during the transition to the in-person classes, when the university had started to enforce blended modes of learning. To take advantage of blended learning, the advising sessions were conducted at regular intervals throughout the semester as a complementary didactic tool to the flipped classroom. A juxtaposition of the two phases of advising in different academic years and in different learning contexts proves that despite operating on the same principles and utilizing the same methodologies, advising sessions yielded differences in terms of their objectives, emerging themes, challenges, and essence. This synthesis report highlights the flexible nature of advising that can be utilized in a variety of contexts and can withstand however form of modality change.