Why it is needed
For adoption across the Gulf and the wider Middle East and North Africa, Arabic versions of the Standard and its key instruments are essential. Localization is more than translation. It includes adapting competency descriptors to the cultural setting, checking that concepts carry the same meaning in both languages, and sometimes using different examples and assessment contexts.
What the protocol is intended to cover
According to the Architecture Document and the Standard Roadmap, the protocol will define:
- The translation process: forward and backward translation, with reconciliation of differences.
- Cultural adaptation review: how descriptors and examples are reviewed for the local setting.
- Cognitive testing: requirements for testing translated versions with the people who will use them.
- Cross-language validation: the standards a translated instrument must meet to show it measures the same thing as the original.
Other language versions are expected to follow the same framework.
How it fits the rules on adaptation
Under the ALiF adaptation typology, translation and substitution of culturally relevant examples count as localization: permitted without formal review, provided the structure is preserved and the localized version carries its own version number. The protocol is meant to make such versions consistent and comparable, and to set out what evidence is needed before an Arabic instrument can be treated as equivalent. The instrument registry already asks each instrument to state which languages are available and the validation status of each.
Status
The protocol is planned and has not yet been published. The Roadmap had targeted the second quarter of 2026, dependent on recruiting a translation team and cultural adaptation expertise; that target has passed. The Roadmap also lists cross-cultural adaptation studies among the later validation work. Details will be published when the protocol is available.