Use Of Relational Strategies Research Articles

Improving Strategic Planning and Ensuring the Development of Enterprises Based on Relational Strategies

The article is aimed at improving the strategic planning processes at enterprises through the effective implementation and use of relational strategies. These strategies are aimed at increasing the competitiveness, sustainability, and adaptability of enterprises in the face of rapidly changing market realities. The study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of relational strategies as a strategic planning tool that can contribute to the development of more effective strategic initiatives. The methodological basis of the study includes the use of evolutionary planning, which involves building a long-term model of enterprise development, a methodology for implementing strategic changes that allows assessing the organization’s ability to adapt to innovations, and a systematic planning approach to detail key milestones for achieving strategic goals. The main result of the study was the identification of the peculiarities of forming a relational strategy of an enterprise. Relational strategies are based on the creation of bilateral relations between the enterprise and other market participants, which contributes to the formation of mutually beneficial cooperation. The main goal is to obtain relational rent and ensure sustainable development of the enterprise through collaboration. The key elements of a relational strategy are an understanding of the concept of “relational rent” and the importance of “relational assets”. The study reveals the importance of relational strategies in modern strategic planning of enterprises, highlighting them as an important tool for achieving competitive advantage, sustainability and effective adaptation to dynamic market conditions

English as a foreign language learners' strategy awareness across proficiency levels from the perspective of self-regulated learning metafactors.

The previous three decades have seen a growing body of research into language learners’ self-regulated learning (SRL), language learning strategy (LLS) use, and their possible effects on proficiency. This study thus provides insights into the relationship between elementary and low intermediate learners’ perceptions of their self-regulated strategy use in English as a foreign language (EFL) and their attitude to English in relation to their proficiency level. Nine hundred and sixty-six higher proficiency students and 399 lower proficiency students in Year 8 participated in the research. A revised Self-Regulated Foreign Language Learning Strategy Questionnaire (SRFLLSQ), a version of Oxford’s Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), was completed by the participants. Our findings shed light on higher proficiency learners’ significantly higher level of strategy use. Learners at higher levels relied more strongly on their metacognitive strategies, such as planning, organizing and monitoring their cognitive processes. Our analysis also showed a high correlation between the different factors of metastrategy use (metacognitive, meta-affective, metasocial, and metamotivational) and cognitive, affective, social, and motivational strategy use in relation to attitude and proficiency. A path analysis also reinforced our assumption that metafactors significantly determine learners’ proficiency across strategy use and attitude in both higher and lower-level students. The positive contribution of the metastrategies on their corresponding regulated strategy fields appeared to be robust, thus underlining recent LLS research that emphasizes the role of metafactors in the language learning process.

Chinese Undergraduate Students’ Language Learning Strategy Use in Flipped English Learning and its Relationships to Gender and Proficiency

The purpose of this study was to examine Chinese undergraduate students’ language learning strategy use in flipped English learning and the effect of gender and language proficiency on strategy use. It aimed to enrich the research on language learning strategies as well as the flipped classroom and render implications to EFL instructors on developing students’ language learning strategy use in flipped English learning. Research questions in this study revolved around identifying the most and least frequently used language learning strategies in Chinese undergraduate students’ flipped English learning, and the influence of gender as well as language proficiency on the frequency of students’ strategy use. In this study, the researchers employed random sampling to select 109 students enrolled in the flipped English course for non-English majors at H University in China. Oxford’s (1990) Strategies Inventory of Language Learning (SILL) was modified for a flipped classroom context and employed to collect data. T-tests and ANOVAs were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that participants employed language learning strategies with medium frequency in flipped English learning. While they employed social strategies the most frequently, they used metacognitive strategies the least frequently. Furthermore, the male and female participants were not significantly different in their strategy use. However, there was a significant difference in strategy use in relation to English language proficiency in that high proficiency students employed strategies more frequently than low proficiency students. Pedagogical implications are provided.

Solution-Focused Coaching to Support Clinicians’ Professional Development: An Analysis of Relational Strategies and Co-constructed Outcomes

ABSTRACT Purpose To explore solution-focused coaching (SFC) as a means to enhance pediatric rehabilitation practitioners’ development of listening skills. Methods Six clinicians each participated in two SFC sessions with an experienced coach who used a practice model developed for pediatric rehabilitation (SFC-peds). The transcribed interviews were analyzed by inductive content analysis to identify the coach’s use of relational strategies and the nature of what was being co-constructed in the sessions. Results The coach used six relational strategies (e.g., supporting reflective and critical thinking). Through dialogue and reflection, the coach and clinician co-constructed four important outcomes, including shared meaning, awareness and discovery of strengths and values, discovery of strategies and opportunities, and forward movement Conclusions The study informs our understanding of the relational processes and benefits of SFC conversations. These conversations appear to provide an optimal learning space to enhance professional development, by facilitating the co-creation of meaning, awareness, and intentionality.

Exploring Relational Dialogue in Solution-Focused Coaching Sessions: An Analysis of Co-Construction and Reflection

ABSTRACT Purpose: To examine solution-focused coaching (SFC) as a means to enhance clinicians’ professional development. Methods: Six pediatric rehabilitation clinicians (three physical, two occupational, and one behavior therapist) each received two SFC sessions targeting clinical listening goals. Conversational intervals were noted in session transcriptions. Frequencies of relational strategies and conversational intervals were calculated. The meaning of intervals > 10 s was examined. Results: The most frequent relational strategies indicated that SFC facilitates reflection and critical thinking, and encourages action. An appreciable number of long intervals (>10 s) occurred, indicating substantial reflection by participants. These were embedded in relational dialogue sequences involving coach questions and formulations, and participant pauses. Conclusions: The findings support the use of SFC as a professional development tool and substantiate the view that SFC ‘works’ through the coach’s use of relational strategies designed to facilitate collaborative conversations that build solutions through an emphasis on reflection and action.

Are L1 and L2 strategies transferable? An exploration of the L1 and L2 writing strategies of Chinese graduate students

ABSTRACT Over the past three decades, second language writing has witnessed a growth of studies on learners’ writing strategies, as well as a shift from product-oriented to process-oriented research. Although the field has achieved a greater understanding of strategies used by English-as-an-additional-language (EAL) writers, limited research has examined the strategies used by learners in completing the same writing task in their L1 (first language) versus L2 (second language). Such an exploration would shed light on the transferability of writing strategies between L1 and L2 in different writing tasks. The present study used a questionnaire, concurrent think-aloud protocol and immediate post-task retrospective interviews to examine the strategies used by 35 Chinese EAL learners in completing L1 and L2 writing tasks and how these strategies related to writing performance. Results pertaining to the identified L1 and L2 writing strategies, similarities and differences between L1 and L2 writing strategy use, the potential transferability of L1 and L2 strategy use in writing, and strategy use in relation to writing performance are reported and discussed in relation to previous research. Also considered are implications, limitations and future research directions to move the field forward.

Grade-related differences in strategy use in multidigit division in two instructional settings.

We aimed to investigate upper elementary children's strategy use in the domain of multidigit division in two instructional settings: the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium). A cross‐sectional sample of 119 Dutch and 122 Flemish fourth to sixth graders solved a varied set of multidigit division problems. With latent class analysis, three distinct strategy profiles were identified: children consistently using number‐based strategies, children combining the use of column‐based and number‐based strategies, and children combining the use of digit‐based and number‐based strategies. The relation between children's strategy profiles and their instructional setting (country) and grade were generally in line with instructional differences, but large individual differences remained. Furthermore, Dutch children more frequently made adaptive strategy choices and realistic solutions than their Flemish peers. These results complement and refine previous findings on children's strategy use in relation to mathematics instruction. Statement of contribution What is already known? Mathematics education reform emphasizes variety, adaptivity, and insight in arithmetic strategies.Countries have different instructional trajectories for multidigit division.Mixed results on the impact of instruction on children's strategy use in multidigit division. What does this study add? Latent class analysis identified three meaningful strategy profiles in children from grades 4–6.These strategy profiles substantially differed between children.Dutch and Flemish children's strategy use is related to their instructional trajectory.

Hippocampal activation and memory performance in schizophrenia depend on strategy use in a virtual maze

Different strategies may be spontaneously adopted to solve most navigation tasks. These strategies are associated with dissociable brain systems. Here, we use brain-imaging and cognitive tasks to test the hypothesis that individuals living with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (SSD) have selective impairment using a hippocampal-dependent spatial navigation strategy. Brain activation and memory performance were examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during the 4-on-8 virtual maze (4/8VM) task, a human analog of the rodent radial-arm maze that is amenable to both response-based (egocentric or landmark-based) and spatial (allocentric, cognitive mapping) strategies to remember and navigate to target objects. SSD (schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder) participants who adopted a spatial strategy performed more poorly on the 4/8VM task and had less hippocampal activation than healthy comparison participants using either strategy as well as SSD participants using a response strategy. This study highlights the importance of strategy use in relation to spatial cognitive functioning in SSD. Consistent with a selective-hippocampal dependent deficit in SSD, these results support the further development of protocols to train impaired hippocampal-dependent abilities or harness non-hippocampal dependent intact abilities.

Reading Profiles in Indonesian Context: Concurrent Protocol Analysis

Verbal protocols have been used to construct proposition about cognitive process in language learning and reading process. Despite extensive development of cognitive –based research in reading strategies, revelations of cognitive process as well as its relation to proficiency are still inconclusive and more studies are still needed to venture into this field. There is a need to add existing literature in order to refresh current inconsistency regarding the relationship between proficiency and reading strategy. The paper reports the findings of a case study research at one of public university in Makassar, Indonesia. Five less proficient learners at English Department, Hasanuddin University participated in a six-weeks training. The verbal reports were recorded, transcribed, and then analyzed qualitatively by means of interpretative paradigm. Findings showed that less proficient EFL learners performed wide range of strategies, such as skimming, as well as compensation strategy of code-switching, and sounding out words to help their comprehension process. These learners tended to employ those strategies in less efficient manner so as to read the text line by line. Variability in the use of strategies did not fully support these learners’ comprehension over the text as indicated in the way they approached the tasks as well as their performance results in task completion. Lexical problem was indicative to account for their comprehension problem as shown in their report for willing to use ssupport strategy, such as the use of dictionary. Overall, the less proficient learners performed almost all of the important reading strategies commonly practiced by the proficient learners of ESL background. The findings strengthen previous proposition that no consensus can be drawn between certain pattern of strategy use in relation to proficiency level. The finding confirmsan emerging need of reading strategy instruction in order to generate strategic reading behaviour in these learners.

Effects of Strategy-based Instruction on Korean EFL College-level Students' English Speaking Abilities and their Communication Strategy Use

The research of communication strategies has been conducted over three decades. A considerable amount of studies have focused on the identification and classification of communication strategies. However, there has been relatively a small amount of research on the relationship of communication strategy use, types of task, and strategy instruction effect. This study examines how strategy-based instruction could affect Korean EFL college-level students' English speaking abilities and their strategy use in relation to two speaking task types. A total of 81 students participated in the research, and they were divided into the experimental group who received the strategy instruction and the control group who had no strategy instruction. The results showed that both control and experimental groups have significantly improved their speaking proficiency in terms of their overall speaking performance. However, when their speaking abilities were compared by subscales, such as accuracy, fluency and pronunciation, significant differences were found in the accuracy and fluency areas on the picture description. The findings also revealed that the strategy instruction positively influenced the students' use of the speaking strategies, and their strategy uses were somewhat different from the task type. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are discussed.

A Study of Chinese University EFL Learners' Foreign Language Listening Anxiety, Listening Strategy Use and Listening Performance

The present study examined foreign language (FL) listening anxiety and listening strategy use in relation to the FL listening comprehension performance of 1702 undergraduate EFL learners from 5 universities in China. The findings were: (1) more than half of the students generally did not feel anxious when listening to English, were low in English listening proficiency, and were not confident in or satisfied with their English listening proficiency, and usually moderately used different types of strategies when listening to English; (2) compared with their female counterparts, the male students felt significantly more anxious when facing listening activities and less satisfied with their English listening proficiency, used significantly more often the memory/attention/understanding-related strategies and were less proficient in English, employed significantly more often‘less active listener strategies’ (FLLSUS6), but significantly less frequently the strategies of negotiation for meaning (FLLSUS1), maintaining fluency (FLLSUS2), getting the gist (FLLSUS4), and nonverbal strategies (FLLSUS5), (3) all FLLAS and FLLSUS scales were highly significantly correlated with each other and the students’ listening comprehension performance, and (4) FLLSUS6, FLLAS2, FLLAS3, FLLAS1, FLLSUS2, and FLLSUS1 were good predictors of English listening comprehension performance. Based on the findings, some discussions are made.

Effects of occupational future time perspective on managing stressful work situations.

According to the socioemotional selectivity theory (SST; Carstensen, 2006), older adults perceive their future time as increasingly limited, which motivates them to focus more on emotional goals and prefer passive emotion-focused strategies. This study aims to investigate the effect of occupational future time perspective (OFTP) on the use of problem-solving strategies in stressful work situations and to examine the effectiveness of these strategies on psychological well-being. A sample of 199 Chinese clerical workers responded to a structured questionnaire on problem-solving strategy use in relation to hypothetical work scenarios. Results revealed that relative to those with limited OFTP, workers with expansive OFTP preferred problem-focused and proactive strategies in both low- and high-emotionally salient scenarios. Workers with limited OFTP consistently preferred passive strategies irrespective of emotional salience. OFTP moderated the effect of problem-focused strategies on psychological distress. In particular, there was a significant negative relationship between problem-focused strategies and psychological distress among workers with expansive OFTP, but such pattern of relationship was not observed among workers with limited OFTP. Findings of this study inform the training strategies employed by practitioners to fit the developmental goals of workers in order to maximise their strengths at work.

Use of relational strategies to repair alliance ruptures: How responsive supervisors train responsive psychotherapists.

Inasmuch as therapist responsiveness is the crucial ingredient in psychotherapy success, teaching supervisees to be optimally responsive to their clients is the primary function of supervision. Responsive supervision is particularly critical when a trainee experiences a faltering or problematic working alliance with a client. In this article, I describe and illustrate how supervisors can work responsively, both explicitly (through instruction) and implicitly (through modeling) when their supervisees report a serious alliance rupture. Next, I illustrate, with the same case example, how quickly ruptures in the therapeutic alliance can lead to ruptures in the supervisory alliance when the supervisor is not sufficiently responsive to the trainee's needs and, instead, relies exclusively on case management. Throughout the article, I discuss how the construct of responsiveness fits within the substantial body of theory and research on relational processes in supervision.

Safety Strategy Use Among Women Seeking Temporary Protective Orders: The Relationship Between Violence Experienced, Strategy Effectiveness, and Risk Perception.

This study examined safety strategy use in relation to intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization, perceived effectiveness of the strategies, and perception of danger from IPV among 197 abused women. More than 90% of the women used 1 or more strategies in the 6 months prior to their interview. Severe physical and sexual violence were significantly associated with an increased use of placating strategies. Perceived effectiveness of the strategies was high yet not associated with strategy use. Increased perception of danger from IPV was significantly associated with increased use of safety planning strategies. The findings suggest that safety planning should be tailored to fit women's specific contexts. Safety planning discussions should focus on strategies that reduce women's risk of continued violence and build on women's strengths.

An Investigation of Science Active Learning Strategy Use in Relation to Motivational Beliefs

An Investigation of Science Active Learning Strategy Use in Relation to Motivational Beliefs

Korean L2 Learners’ Perception and Attributions to the Selection of Communication Strategies

Reaching beyond the long-discussed attribution of communication strategy use in relation to limited target language competence, the current study was...

EFL Learners’ Reading Strategy Use in Relation to Reading Anxiety

The study investigated EFL learners’ reading strategies use in relation to reading anxiety and gender after their participation in extensive reading as a supplemental course requirement. One hundred and eight EFL college freshmen completed a questionnaire, a survey of Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS), and a modified Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) after eighteen weeks of participation in extensive reading. The results indicate a negative correlation between reading anxiety and reading strategies. It was also found that EFL learners with low anxiety levels tended to use general reading strategies such as guessing, while EFL learners with high anxiety levels employed basic support mechanisms, such as translation, to help themselves understand texts. Some reading strategies were more used by high-anxiety level readers than low-anxiety level readers. Additionally, females tended to be slightly more anxious than males in reading. Language anxiety, a complex psychological construct, is regarded as an affective variable in the language learning process. Research on language anxiety has examined the possible relationship between anxiety and performance, and its interference in language competence (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1989; Sellers, 2000). The majority of studies have centered on the influence of language anxiety on listening or speaking in language classroom (Horwitz et al., 1986; Phillips, 1992; Price, 1991; Young, 1991). However, anxiety also can be a crucial filter for foreign language (FL) learners as they attempt to comprehend reading or listening passages. The literature on foreign language reading suggests that affective variables such as anxiety could be contributing factors in reading performance (Mohd. Zin & Rafik-Galea, 2010; Saito, Horwitz, & Garza, 1999; Sellers, 2000). In a preliminary study, Saito et al. (1999) indicated that foreign language reading anxiety is distinct from general foreign language anxiety and concluded that learners’ levels of reading anxiety were correlated with

Foreign Language Anxiety and Strategy Use: A Study with Chinese Undergraduate EFL Learners

The present study explored foreign language anxiety and strategy use in relation to their interactive effect on the students’ performance in English. The participants were 934 Chinese undergraduates who completed a 71-item survey. Complicated statistical analyses (e.g., correlation analyses, regression analyses and structural equaling model) were run on the data, which show that 1) nearly one-third of the students experienced anxiety in English class, 2) the participants mainly reported a medium use of both cognitive and metacognitive strategies, 3) foreign language classroom anxiety, cognitive strategy use, and metacognitive strategy use were all significantly correlated with one another, and 4) all the measured variables produced a significant effect on the students’ performance in English. Based on the findings, some implications for teaching and learning of English are discussed.

Does Believing in “Use it or Lose It” Relate to Self-Rated Memory Control, Strategy Use, and Recall?

After an oral free recall task, participants were interviewed about their memory. Despite reporting similar levels of perceived personal control over memory, older and young adults differed in the means in which they believed memory could be controlled. Older adults cited health and wellness practices and exercising memory, consistent with a "use it or lose it" belief system, more often than young adults who were more likely to mention metacognition and flexible strategy use as means of memory control. Young adults reported using more effective relational strategies during study for a free recall test. Use of relational strategies predicted recall in both age groups, but did not materially affect age differences in performance. Metacognitive beliefs, including implicit theories about aging and memory decline, memory self-concept, and perceived control over memory functioning, did not systematically correlate with strategy use or recall.

Coping with linguistic challenges in UK higher education: the use of strategies by Chinese research students

The present study sets out to examine the strategies used by Chinese learners in a predominantly naturalistic environment and how such learner strategy use relates to their proficiency in the second language. Data were collected from four Chinese research students in the UK using semi-structured interviews. Their proficiency in English was assessed with an oral interview and a listening test. The main findings from this study are that the learners used a wide range of strategies overall, including metacognitive, cognitive, social/affective and compensation strategies. The majority of the commonly reported strategies were metacognitive strategies, suggesting that the learners were self-directed and attempting to manage their own learning in an informal context. They also showed idiosyncrasies in their use of learner strategies. Attempts to explain the learners' strategy use in relation to their levels of proficiency in English and contextual factors, as well as several other factors, are offered. Implications for target-country institutions in terms of the provision of support to Chinese students are discussed.