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eva.mpg.de>Last week I posted a query on the effect of cochlear implant (CI) technology on the use of sign language. My question originated in a recent article in the German newsmagazine DER SPIEGEL, which portrayed CI technology as a real alternative to sign language and argued against the use of sign in deaf education. I got lots of replies which are almost unanimous in most respects. This is of course a highly politicized matter, and I was surprised to hear no opposing voices -- maybe they are not to be found among linguists. The most important points of the respondents were the following: - CI technology is not sufficiently developed at present that one can say that CI users hear in the same way hearing people -- it seems to be more a simulation of hearing. Children with CIs need a lot of teaching and speech therapy in order to acquire spoken language, so the CI does not allow effortless acquisition of spoken language. - There is no evidence whatsoever that knowledge of sign language interferes with the acquisition of spoken language, and thus there is no reason to deprive CI children of sign language input. On the contrary, CI children need a language they feel at ease with to cope with potential problems of using the CI. - CI technology is opposed by many Deaf organizations, because they see it as another attempt of hearing people to marginalize the Deaf and to make deafness appear as a defect. It is also noted that the hearing aid industry benefits from CIs, so there are economic interests here as well. - Deaf organizations generally oppose CIs, especially for young children who were born deaf. - Only the rich can afford CIs, which again means that there is no great impact on sign language (however, this seems to be true only for countries with no health care system like the US -- the situation in most European countries seems to be different) - Sign languages are important for our understanding of language, and they are "worth keeping around". I found this latter argument problematic -- of course, sign languages are good for linguists, but that is no reason to "keep them around". Similarly, we wouldn't tell speakers of Sorbian (an endangered Slavic language in Germany) to continue speaking Sorbian just because it would be a pity for linguists if this language became extinct. The people themselves have to decide. Several respondents admitted that if CI technology improves significantly in the coming decades, the situation might change, and sign language may indeed become endangered at some point -- but everyone was skeptical. I was wondering to what extent the situation in the US is perhaps different from the situation in other countries, e.g. in Europe. In the US, there are many ethnic subcultures, so there is a positive model for a separate Deaf culture. Europeans may have greater problems identifying fully with a self-contained Deaf community, so maybe this means that people will be more ready to rely on CIs even at this relatively early point in the development of the technology. But this may be a wrong impression. The following people responded to my query -- thanks to all of them: James Fidelholtz, Tracy Mansfield, Frank Bechter, Rachel Lagunoff, Donald Grushkin, B. Wald, Nancy Frishberg, Lawrence Crowell, Joerg Keller, Irene Greftegreff, Lakshmi Fjord, Bernard Comrie, Coln Whiteley, Inge Zwitserlood, Peter Daniels, Andy Kaplan-Myrth, Paul Chapin, Nan Decker, Harlan Lane, Bernd Rehling, Francois Grosjean, Robin Battison, Roland Ilenborg, Ed Watts Some references: Lane, Harlan. 1984. When the Mind Hears: A History of the Deaf. New York: Random House. Lane, Harlan. 1992. The Mask of Benevolence: Disabling the Deaf Community. New York: Vintage. (Original hardcover Alfred A. Knopf.) Lane, Harlan, Hoffmeister, Robert & Bahan, Ben. 1996. A Journey into the Deaf-World. San Diego: DawnSignPress. Padden, Carol & Humphries, Tom. 1988. Deaf in America: Voices from a Culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Unviversity Press. Sacks, Oliver: Seeing voices Van Cleve, John Vickery & Crouch, Barry A. 1989. A Place of Their Own: Creating the Deaf Community in America. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press. The article in DER SPIEGEL which prompted my posting, together with a highly critical commentary, can be found at http://www.taubenschlag.de/kolumnen/spiegel/grammatik.htm. Martin Haspelmath - Dr. Martin Haspelmath (haspelmathMail to author|Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue