Beyond Borders: The Impact of Multilingualism on Research Excellence
As a researcher, communication is one of the skills that you must understand and master, especially in order to build rapport with participants. This ensures that the research session flows smoothly and provides valuable insights, as participants are not wary of us due to our efforts to create a positive impression from the outset.
So, in order to enhance communication, we must be able to understand and converse in the language that the participant is most comfortable with. For me personally, language is as crucial as other soft skills in becoming a researcher, particularly for qualitative researchers, as much of our data comprises verbatim statements from participants.
Being able to master multiple languages, or being a polyglot, is a unique and rare skill for a researcher. If someone possesses this skill, it can provide a significant advantage. Why is that?
Being able to build rapport effectively
Imagine you are a citizen of Indonesia, where each city has its own local language. For example, in Surabaya, people speak Javanese, in Bandung, they speak Sundanese, and in Jakarta, they mostly use a modified form of Bahasa Indonesia. Even though our national language remains Bahasa Indonesia, not everyone is accustomed to frequently using it, especially if they are not in Jakarta or in a big city.
I had an experience when I visited Jember, one of the cities in East Java, for a volunteering event during my university days. At first, I thought it would be easy since I understood Javanese. I assumed that if I had to go to a rural area to teach grade school students, I would still be able to interact with them even if I didn’t use our national language. However, the thing is, the local language used there in the rural area in Jember is different from what I thought. It is mainly Bahasa Madura instead of Javanese. So at that point, I didn’t understand anything they said, and it was hard to build rapport with them. They also weren’t really comfortable using Bahasa Indonesia, so it made it less natural.
Fortunately, my friends understood Madura and helped me build rapport with them, but still, it was not a really good experience, especially for me, who was not able to interact with them directly.
Being able to master several languages when doing research is such a unique and great skill to boast to your recruiter. Because if your company does a lot of research in different countries, or even in different parts of Indonesia, at least you can grab a local there, even if they are not speaking English or Indonesian (if it’s in Indonesia). With that, you can attract a more varied group of participants without limiting language as your criteria if it’s not language-restricted
Reduce the budget to hire interpreter
Have you ever hired an interpreter or a local person from the research location that you were aiming to do research before? What do you think about the budget for hiring an interpreter? If you ask me personally, it could be quite expensive. Even though not every research project may require an interpreter, for a small company, it could be quite expensive to allocate that amount of money.
However, if you have a researcher who are able to understand multiple languages, at least the cost to hire an interpreter might be reduce. not necessarily we might not need for an interpreter because sometimes there are a culture difference between the researcher and the location of the research so it might be needed. But it doesn’t have to be an interpreter.
This way not only you are able to building rapport effectively, you also could reduce the budget for the research that you are conducted.
Make recruiting process much more easier without language restrictions.
By mastering or at least being able to speak multiple languages fluently, researchers have the privilege of being able to hire participants without having to restrict the language, for example, by stating “Must be able to speak English.” This means that you can hire more local participants who may not be able to speak English and obtain more localized data throughout the research if that’s your goal and objective. However, if you’re looking for more global participants, maybe this benefit would not be a huge advantage for you. Still, for more localized research, it is a significant skill that researchers could possess.
Being able to work anywhere in the language that you have mastered.
A significant privilege that polyglots have is the ability to consider working in places where they can use the language fluently. It also enables them to adapt faster than someone who has to learn the language first. This is related to my fear during 2022, where there was a rumor that Niagahoster’s product design team would be merged with Hostinger, a European company based in Lithuania. The fear that I had is related to conducting research on a more global user base, which may not be from Indonesia or an English-based country but also involves conducting research, for example, in Spanish, French, and other languages.
However, if you are a polyglot, you at least know that you understand and can speak fluently in various types of languages. This will ease your fear and make you more confident to conduct the research, especially if you are a solo researcher there.
Being a polyglot makes you more confident and helps you adapt to the country, city, or even a region better
So What the key takeaways from being a polyglot? :
- Mastering multiple languages is crucial for researchers, facilitating diverse participant engagement in various regions.
- Having a researcher who understands multiple languages could reduce the need and cost for an interpreter. Cultural differences may still require assistance, but it doesn’t always have to be an interpreter. This approach not only enhances rapport-building but also helps cut down on research budget.
- Knowing multiple languages empowers researchers to recruit participants without language restrictions, facilitating the collection of localized data. While less crucial for global studies, this skill is invaluable for localised research.
- Polyglots can work confidently in regions where they speak the language fluently, adapting quickly. Amidst concerns about Niagahoster’s merger with Hostinger, being a polyglot eases fears of global research, fostering confidence and better adaptation to diverse regions.
If you have any feedback regarding the article, please let me know through a comment, or you can simply email me at adtardiansyah1998@gmail.com. I would really like to talk to you about this issue if it’s possible. 👍🏻
