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Interviewing participants with English as a second language
A quick note on setting expectations and increasing participant comfort (without leading)
In 2018 I was conducting research in Malaysia. The interviews were conducted in English.
In the normal course of travel, there’s a back and forth negotiation guessing at what the other person is saying.
For example, in Germany I remember a guy saying to me “I don’t know the name in English… you know… baby sh!t pants?” Err.. nappies? (or diapers for the Americans).
In Colombia when I needed antihistamines I just said “ah… antihistamines por favor?” to the chemist, hoping the word was similar enough (it is thankfully, it’s antihistamínicos).
By guessing at what the other person is saying you’re able to communicate effectively and compassionately. But if you do this in research, you’re leading, biasing and potentially twisting their words.
In the first interview I did in Malaysia, I could tell the participant knew how the interface worked but couldn’t put it in words in English. They were flustered, and they were frustrated at me for not jumping in and helping them while they were floundering. I told them “I can tell you understand, but I need to hear it in your own words”.
