An ethic for researching multilingually in transnational, multilingual, multidisiplinary research teams

Abstract

Working in a multilingual, multinational, and multidisciplinary project invites questions concerning the role of languages among the researchers, participants and stakeholders involved in the project. In this chapter, we attempt to explore how colleagues in the network project understood the role of their own linguistic resources, and those of others included in their research: for example, decisions about using multiple languages in literature searches and reviews; linguistic decisions in the field when working with the multiple languages of participants and other stakeholders; in collaborations within the research team; and in producing academic and stakeholder outputs. In previous work, Holmes and colleagues had come to realise that decisions concerning how researchers draw on their linguistic resources in their research are largely made tacitly; or decisions may be shaped by structural and linguistic hegemonies, often in ways that go uncontested or cannot be contested, in the contexts where the research is produced, or later, where it is to be published (Holmes et al., 2013; Andrews et al., 2020; Holmes et al., 2022). Furthermore, Meyer Pitton and Schedel (2022, in press) comment that decisions about language choice and publication within research teams are rarely discussed. In this chapter, we draw on the experiences of the researchers who were part of our transnational network to explore processes of researching multilingually in an attempt to uncover researchers’ perspectives on these matters. Our aim is to provide an ethical stance towards multilingual researcher practices in a multilingual network of researchers, who in this case, are working in contexts of conflict, forced migration, economic marginalisation, and occupation. First, we discuss the research context and chapter aims, followed by our research method. We then present the researchers’ responses (the languages in the project, and participants’ experiences of drawing on multiple linguistic resources during various phases of the project. We finish with conclusions and recommendations to other researchers on incorporating an ethic of researching multilingually in their work.