Presentation at Toi-Ohomai Institute of Technology (Rotorua, New Zealand) on 9 June 2017. I discuss the implications of cross-cultural research such as translating non-English data and using a reflexive approach to consider how a researcher’s cultural background influences the research.

1. CROSSING CULTURES
RESEARCHING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Sherrie Lee, PhD Candidate University of Waikato

2. Language and Culture
(Kramsch, 1998, p. 3)
“Language is the principal means whereby we
conduct our social lives. When it is used in
contexts of communication, it is bound up
with culture in multiple and complex ways.”

3. Language represents the
research data and the process
Doing Cross-cultural Research
(Hennink, 2008)
Methodological and analytical choices
affect quality, validity and utility of research

4. Crossing cultures in research
English/
Bilingual/
Multilingual
speaker
Hindi
Korean
Japanese
Research
Audience
Mandarin
Non-native
English
speaker

5. How does one function in a
research environment of
multiple languages and cultures

6. 2 Language choices
WAYS OF CROSSING CULTURES
3 Ethical representation
1 Reflexive thinking

7. Who am I?
How does this affect others?
1 REFLEXIVE THINKING

8. § What languages/cultures have
you been exposed to?
§ What is your bi/multi-lingual
story?
§ What do others expect of you?
§ Who are your language/cultural
brokers?
§ What do others expect of them?
Reflexive thinking
(Temple 2002, 2006)

9. 2 LANGUAGE CHOICES
Which language is preferred?
Why?

10. Language choices
§ What language(s) will you use in
your data collection?
§ How will you translate non-
English data?
§ How will you communicate
unfamiliar cultural concepts to
your research audience?
(Merriam et al., 2001; Srivastava, 2006)

11. 3 ETHICAL REPRESENTATION
How are participants represented?
How will the audience respond?

12. Ethical representation
§ How will you treat translated
texts? Who verifies translation?
§ What are the implications of a
bilingual researcher?
§ How will you describe
participants to others?
§ What assumptions will your
audience make when reading
about them?
(Berman & Tyyskä, 2010; Esposito, 2001;
Shklarov, 2007)

13. Meaning and culture are understood
through languages.
SUMMARY
You are responsible for how you
represent participants to your audience.
Your cultural background influences your
research.

14. How will you cross cultures
in your research?

15. Twitter
@orangecanton
Email
leesherrie@gmail.com
Sherrie Lee, PhD Candidate
University of Waiakto
Or connect through
ResearchGate
LinkedIn

16. REFERENCES
Berman, R. C., & Tyyskä,V. (2010).A critical reflection on the use of translators/interpreters in a
qualitative cross-language research project. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 10(1), 178–190.
http://doi.org/10.1177/160940691101000206
Esposito, N. (2001). From meaning to meaning: On non-English focus group research. Qualitative Health
Research, 11(4), 568–579. http://doi.org/10.1177/104973201129119217
Hennink, M. M. (2008). Language and communication in cross-cultural qualitative research. In P.
Liamputtong (Ed.), Doing Cross-Cultural Research: Ethical and Methodological Perspectives (pp. 21–33).
http://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8567-3_2
Kramsch, C. J. (1998). Language and culture. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Merriam, S. B., Johnson-Bailey, J., Lee, M.-Y., Kee,Y., Ntseane, G., & Muhamad, M. (2001). Power and
positionality: Negotiating insider/outsider status within and across cultures. International Journal of Lifelong
Education, 20(5), 405–416. http://doi.org/10.1080/02601370120490
Shklarov, S. (2007). Double vision uncertainty:The bilingual researcher and the ethics of cross-language
research. Qualitative Health Research, 17(4), 529–538. http://doi.org/10.1177/1049732306298263
Srivastava, P. (2006). Reconciling multiple researcher positionalities and languages in international research.
Research in Comparative and International Education, 1(3), 210. http://doi.org/10.2304/rcie.2006.1.3.210
Temple, B. (2002). Crossed wires: Interpreters, translators, and bilingual workers in cross-language
research. Qualitative Health Research, 12(6), 844–854. http://doi.org/10.1177/104973230201200610
Temple, B. (2006). Being bilingual: Issues for cross-language research. Journal of Research Practice, 2(1),
Article M2. Retrieved from http://jrp.icaap.org/index.php/jrp/article/view/20/39