Hi Keith,
I suspect you have not upgraded to SP 09 or SP 10, as this issue is addressed in that service pack.
Please go through this - http://scn.sap.com/community/mdm/blog/2012/08/26/benefit-now-from-support-package-9-for-sap-netweaver-mdm-71
Please refer to SAP Note - 1687317 and SAP MDM 7.1 SP 09 release note - 1628176.
Pasting excerpt from that blog "End-User / Web Component (Web Dynpro). Within Web Dynpro components the following can be controlled:
- Language inheritance in Lookup fields: You can now display the language inheritance values in the Lookup that are in Web Dynpro."
For more details also go through - http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nwmdm71/helpdata/en/4f/c496622d534a58e10000000a42189e/content.htm
Thanks,
Ravi