Purpose

Cross-language qualitative research has gained momentum worldwide; yet, there is still a lack of consensus to guide researchers in ensuring the trustworthiness of the research. Several methodological dilemmas related to language differences between researchers and participants should be carefully addressed. Therefore, this study aims to (1) review qualitative literature addressing cross-language, (2) produce a list of methodological criteria and recommendations from the reviewed literature and (3) evaluate systematically published cross-language qualitative researches using the list.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employed a summative content analysis of 35 published curriculum and pedagogy researches from 2000–2018 that viewed language differences as methodological issue. A list of 20 criteria or recommendations was constructed and used to evaluate the selected researches.

Findings

The findings revealed that majority of the researches lacked understanding of language differences between researchers and participants causing multiple inconsistencies in reporting methodological issues. Failure to address these methodological issues could risk the trustworthiness of the data and the overall rigor of the research.

Originality/value

This study highlights the importance to minimize methodological issues related to language differences. It is hoped that the list of criteria or recommendations proposed by this study could support other cross-language qualitative researchers in overcoming these methodological dilemmas.

中文翻译：

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跨语言定性研究的困境：研究综述

目的

跨语言定性研究在全球范围内获得了发展。但是，仍然缺乏共识来指导研究人员确保研究的可信度。与研究人员和参与者之间的语言差异有关的几种方法论难题应予以认真解决。因此，本研究旨在（1）审查针对跨语言的定性文献，（2）列出所审查文献的方法学标准和建议清单，以及（3）使用该清单系统地评估出版的跨语言定性研究。

设计/方法/方法

这项研究对2000年至2018年间发表的35篇课程和教学法研究进行了总结性内容分析，并将语言差异视为方法论问题。构建了20条标准或建议的列表，并将其用于评估所选的研究。

发现

调查结果表明，大多数研究缺乏对研究人员和参与者之间语言差异的理解，从而导致在报告方法问题时出现多种不一致的情况。无法解决这些方法问题可能会冒着数据的可信度和研究的整体严格性的风险。

创意/价值

这项研究强调了最大限度地减少与语言差异有关的方法论问题的重要性。希望这项研究提出的标准或建议清单可以支持其他跨语言定性研究人员克服这些方法论难题。