Recently, a student visited my office to chat about her research. She began the conversation expressing her concern with the consent form because we ask researchers to submit translated materials if their participants speak languages other than English. For example, if a researcher is studying how students in the Dominican Republic respond to challenging mathematical tasks, the IRB consent forms will likely be in both English and Spanish.

The student understood the justification and was in agreement with our policy. However, her concern emerged because of her research interests. She studied elves—not the holiday ones—but the ones featured in books like Lord of the Rings. She proceeded to describe a school that taught students about the legend of elves where some sessions are taught in Elvish (a constructed language) and if those courses were similar to other language immersion courses (e.g., German, Russian, French or Spanish). She was particularly interested in the courses where both the teacher and students spoke using only Elvish.

I urged the student to think seriously about her target population and what translated materials would be most relevant to them, or which language they might understand most clearly. She ultimately decided that translating the materials into the elf language was not necessary under these circumstances. As researchers, it is always important to consider the cultural and linguistic characteristics of a target population, whether or not they are from Middle-Earth.

Intercultural Communication

These considerations are inspired by research in intercultural communication. Generally speaking, intercultural communication revolves around competence and sensitivity when engaging with diverse groups of people.

• First, intercultural competence means to think and act in culturally appropriate ways. For example, a researcher might want to understand how communication processes differ among their target population and identify challenges that may arise from cultural differences. The researcher could learn ways to creatively address these challenges and develop skills, behaviors, and approaches for communicating with different cultures.
• Second, intercultural sensitivity means to remain attuned to relevant cultural differences. For example, a researcher should know their target population and understand what is or is not permitted in certain circumstances. Sensitivity
  also means that in instances when the researcher speaks or behaves inappropriately, they listen and look for cues to respond differently or attempt to improve their communication for future interactions.

Researchers can reflect intercultural competence and sensitivity in their consent forms or other participant materials, including recruitment scripts. This intercultural communication approach can build a bridge between the researcher and the study participant. 

Practical Application

While every research study will have its unique challenges, there are some general policies that apply to most situations that researchers can use as guideposts as they develop participant materials. 

When conducting research in multi-lingual contexts, researchers should consider who is the most appropriate party to serve as an interpreter. While for some types of review a removed, professional third-party is required, other types of review may allow a research team member to serve as an interpreter. In all cases, the interpreter must (1) read, speak, and write the native language and English and (2) be available to answer participants' questions at any point during the study. This table offers some considerations for researchers working with translators in multi-lingual contexts. It demonstrates which type of translators researchers might recruit based on their review category. A researcher's objective is to ensure the participant understands what is being asked of them in their preferred language.

Researchers should also be aware of the language they employ when writing for specific audiences. In every case, researchers should keep their participants' education level and socioeconomic background in mind when writing participant materials. A consent form to be distributed to doctoral students will use different language from a consent form written for 6th-grade students. The chart below is an example of the differences between general vs. technical language use in both English and Spanish. 

For additional references, these six tips listed on Language Scientific are particularly helpful. Also, please review these sample translated documents for examples of acceptable translated consent forms: English to Chinese Sample Parental Permission Form, English to Portuguese Sample Parental Permission Form

Please also download our Translation Verification Form and Translation Guide and for further guidance.

— Dr. Myra Luna Lucero