Now, some of you might be screaming into your computer screen screaming "Never! Never!" Perhaps they are right, meaning "never" as in it'll never go away and that languages are stored somewhere for later retrieval. Whether the demise of ASL will ever come or not but one thing for sure is that technology and biotechnology are the two things that could help with the demise of ASL and at the same time help preserve a culture to pass it on down generation to generation. Yes, sounds a bit strange. Technology has the capability to blink out the existence on the use of ASL or it can preserve it in such a way that it can help ensure the continued use of ASL for generations to come. The difference will probably rest solely on specific laws in the future and how they will deal with babies born with hearing loss and how laws will protect (or not) current Deaf people their right to pass on their genetic deafness to future offsprings as a way to ensure the continued propagation of Deaf culture and ASL. This includes ethical questions in the future on whether genetic manipulation or genetic screning will give Deaf people their opportunity or a right to use such biotechnology to ensure babies born will have that genetic deafness.
So, how can technology help with the continued use of ASL while at the same time may be the very thing that might cause ASL its eventual demise? Today technology continues to improve with faster and better computer chips. There are research and studies being done on ASL recognition by computers where it would be able to recognize signs, facial expression, body language and the grammar and syntax of ASL in real time and translate that into text and speech. It's already a likely scenario when one day you'd have a real international translator device for all languages, including sign language. But in the beginning when this device comes out no longer will the human equation be needed such as a 3rd party interpreter. Deaf people will then become truely independent with the ability to interact with anyone and have their signings translated into perfect English. Or perfect French. Russian. Maybe even Latin. And anybody can talk to you and have it translated using a virtual interpreter seen in your eyewear or glasses.
When that happens, will schools bother with ASL classes? What will happen to the all the interpeters? What about schools like RIT or Gallaudet University? Will they become obsolete? How will technology impact the future of ASL should we have a successful ASL translator device which could very well be a computer smaller than the size of your pinky fingernail? In the name of 24/7 independence how would this technology impact the Deaf culture of the future?
But that may be decades away until a device is doable. What about the imminent future like 5, 10 or 20 years away? How will technology help Deaf, deaf and hard of hearing people attain their independency and the ability to interact with anyone? What aboout future hearing devices such as the hearing implant that goes directly on the auditory nerve where it would have the ability to match equally what hearing people hears and not the cochlear implant way? Human trials is expected in about 4 or 5 years down the road with this implant device. Suppose micro and nano-electronics make this possible within 5 to 10 years and that, after careful studies and reviews, this device could be implanted into deaf babies allowing them to wean themselves away from signing (for all hearing and deaf babies) at around age 3 years old, for example, and use their vocal cords and muscles to speak correctly and the ability hear like any other hearing toddlers. How would this impact Deaf culture 20 years down the road from now? What about the existence of ASL? Babies with these new neural implants, would they still be considered as a deaf child later on or more like hearing child since there would be no way to know whether a child is wearing a neural implant device. How would anybody tell the difference?
That 's one aspect of how technology can help Deaf, deaf and hoh people their independency but at the same time they would face a very real prospect that technology could in fact hurt Deaf culture in the end. A classic catch-22 situation.
Then we have biotechnology where the various forms of deafness from nerve deafness (sensorinueral) to genetic deafness to hearing loss injuries could someday be addressed and corrected (in the sense that hearing sense is one of the five senses people have a right to). It could be seen as a brave new but cruel world to the Deaf culture. But would it be? Using biotechnology wouldn't mean the end of Deaf culture or ASL unless, of course, in the future laws are passed directing that all babies born deaf, after mandatory hearing screening, would be required to have the hearing loss corrected so that, according to the government, would save them money in the long run on social services, SSDI, SSI, SSA and so forth. If such a law were to come about in the future when biotechnology could essentially guarantee that some or most forms of deafness could be corrected while babies are still deaf or perhaps could be corrected while in the womb, only then would such a law or laws will help speed up the demise of ASL along with all the other failing and obscure languages of years and eons pass.
Many linguists predict that at least half of the world's 6,000 or so languages will be dead or dying by the year 2050. Languages are becoming extinct at twice the rate of endangered mammals and four times the rate of endangered birds. If this trend continues, the world of the future could be dominated by a dozen or fewer languages.
Even higher rates of linguistic devastation are possible. Michael Krauss, director of the Alaska Native Language Center, suggests that as many as 90 percent of languages could become moribund or extinct by 2100. According to Krauss, 20 percent to 40 percent of languages are
already moribund, and only 5 percent to 10 percent are "safe" in the sense of being widely spoken or having official status. If people "become wise and turn it around," Krauss says, the number of dead or dying languages could be more like 50 percent by 2100, and that's the best-case scenario.
The definition of a healthy language is one that acquires new speakers. No matter how many adults use the language, if it isn't passed to the next generation, its fate is already sealed. Although a language may continue to exist for a long time as a second or ceremonial language, it is moribund as soon as children stop learning it. For example, out of twenty native Alaskan languages, only two are still being learned by children.
Will ASL be among the 3000 languages (out of 6000 or so) expected to disappear in about 50 years from now? When will it become a turning point when ASL starts its slide toward obscurity and extinction? Will this ever happen in our lifetime when technology and biotechnology could help speed up this demise? Or will all of this help preserve Deaf culture by forcing Deaf people to take measures to ensure their future survival and perpetuity? Will Deaf people have a choice? Or is this in fact inevitable and nothing will stop this demise?
