Questionnaire Translation Dilemma
On last weekend, I found translating the survey questionnaire quite frustrating. It’s very difficult to carry on the same meaning from one language to another. I realize very well whilst I was constructing the survey items that I got notions and understanding from my reading and thinking repertoire and most of the concepts were emerged from English language. All the English terms in the survey are widely used in prior studies and have been recognized in the language research area. I haven't heard or read any translated term of web-based activities in Thai at all. We use English loan words in Thai language when we talk about information technology.
However, I doubt about using the translated version of my survey with the EFL lecturer participants whether they may encounter this problem. Any unclear term in Thai language found when they are doing the survey and that will be the major problem in getting the valid answer from the participants. Some EFL lecturers may feel comfortable with the technology-related terms but some may not have heard any term before. What should I do? I think that my pilot study will give the answer for this question. If the majority of pilot study participant report that they like the English version than the Thai version, should I use the English version in the main survey?
Or should I provide both version – that will be a bit hassle, eh?
I myself prefer the English version than theThai version because I am familiar to read those ideas about web-based instruction in English. To be frank, I really find it awkward to see the terms in Thai. It doesn’t mean that my native language doesn’t fit with the meaning but it looks totally different when it is translated. I will ask my supervisor about this issue.
2 comments:
Hi Tessie
I think the translation dilemma is a really important one. If you were researching Thai teacher cognition about grammar you could expect the concepts and terminology to be more familiar..... Hmmmmm - this will be one of the main challenges of your research. And teachers may have met some of the terms but be less sure of what they mean.....I think this may be one of the biggest challenges of your research.... I wonder what you will find
-Cynthia
Dear Professor White,
Thank you for your comment.
I am translating the survey in Thai anyway because it's quite challenging and some teacher might want to do the survey in Thai. I think I will find out the most appropraite way to use the questionaire when I do my pilot study. It's a dilemma but it's good that I recognize it at this preliminary stage-- imagine when the formal survey are sent to respondents and I have a very few valid survey back due to the misunderstanind and vagueness of the question items. It's good to be aware of the possible drawbacks so I still have time to fix them.
Regards,
Tessie
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